Method of automatically combining farm vehicle and work machine and farm vehicle

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method of automatically combining a farm vehicle with a work machine including confirming a current position of the work machine, moving a farm vehicle into a range having a predetermined radius around the current position, and controlling the farm vehicle, on the basis of a current position and direction of a first coupling unit included in the work machine, so that the first coupling unit and a second coupling unit included in the farm vehicle are coupled to each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/728,345, filed on Apr. 25, 2022, which is based on and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No.10-2021-0070831, filed on Jun. 1, 2021, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0088553, filed onJul. 6, 2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2021-0092858, filed on Jul. 15, 2021, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, Korean Patent Application No.10-2021-0070820, filed on Jun. 1, 2021, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, and Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0087423,filed on Jul. 2, 2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a method of automatically combining afarm vehicle and a work machine, and a farm vehicle.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, as a demand for a technique that allows a labor inputfor performing farming works to be reduced increases and attempts tograft IT technology into an agricultural field are actively progressing,a technique related to farm vehicles is also developing. In particular,as food shortages occur worldwide due to the increase in population andchanges in eating habits, agricultural mechanization is acceleratingpolitically in developing countries, and agriculturally advancedcountries seek to maximize productivity according to the importance offood security, attempts to apply smart mobility technology to farmvehicles have been actively conducted.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments include a method of automatically combining afarm vehicle and a work machine, and a farm vehicle. The presentdisclosure is also directed to providing a computer-readable recordingmedium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method on acomputer. The technical problems to be addressed are not limited tothose described above, and other technical problems may be present.

One or more embodiments include a bale collecting method using a mastervehicle and one or more slave vehicles, and a master vehicle performingthe collecting method.

One or more embodiments include a platooning method for a vehicle groupand a farm vehicle capable of platooning.

One or more embodiments include a method and device for recommendingfarm products suitable for the characteristics of farmland.

One or more embodiments include an autonomous driving control method ofa farm vehicle and a farm vehicle capable of autonomous driving.

Objectives to be achieved by embodiments of the present disclosure arenot limited to the objectives, and other objectives, which are notdescribed above, will be understood by the following description, andwill be more clearly understood by the embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Also, it will be easily appreciated that the aspects andadvantages to be achieved by embodiments of the present disclosure maybe implemented by means shown in the claims and a combination thereof.

One aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of automaticallycombining a farm vehicle with a work machine including confirming acurrent position of the work machine, moving a farm vehicle into a rangehaving a predetermined radius around the current position, andcontrolling the farm vehicle, on the basis of a current position anddirection of a first coupling unit included in the work machine, so thatthe first coupling unit and a second coupling unit included in the farmvehicle are coupled to each other.

In the method, in the confirming of the current position, the currentposition is confirmed on the basis of a position of the work machine ata final time point at which the work machine is separated from the farmvehicle.

In the method, the controlling of the farm vehicle includes determiningan aligned state of the first coupling unit and the second coupling uniton the basis of the current position and direction of the first couplingunit.

In the method, in the determining of the aligned state, the alignedstate is determined on the basis of a first separation distance betweena first point of the second coupling unit and a third point of the firstcoupling unit and a second separation distance between a second point ofthe second coupling unit and a fourth point of the first coupling unit.

In the method, in the determining of the aligned state, the alignedstate is determined by further considering a third separation distancebetween a fifth point positioned between the first point and the secondpoint and a sixth point positioned between the third point and thefourth point.

In the method, the method further includes determining whether the firstcoupling unit and the second coupling unit are coupled to each other onthe basis of the current state of the first coupling unit.

In the method, the method further includes outputting a path throughwhich the farm vehicle moves so that the first coupling unit is coupledto the second coupling unit.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readablerecording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing themethod by a computer.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a farm vehicleincluding a second coupling unit to be coupled to a first coupling unitincluded in a work machine, and a processor configured to confirm acurrent position of the work machine, control the farm vehicle to moveinto a range having a predetermined radius around the current position,and control the farm vehicle, on the basis of a current position anddirection of a first coupling unit included in the work machine, so thatthe first coupling unit and a second coupling unit included in the farmvehicle are coupled to each other.

In the farm vehicle, the processor confirms the current position on thebasis of a position of the work machine at a final time point at whichthe work machine is separated from the farm vehicle.

In the farm vehicle, the processor determines an aligned state of thefirst coupling unit and the second coupling unit on the basis of thecurrent position and direction of the first coupling unit.

In the farm vehicle, the processor determines the aligned state on thebasis of a first separation distance between a first point of the secondcoupling unit and a third point of the first coupling unit and a secondseparation distance between a second point of the second coupling unitand a fourth point of the first coupling unit.

In the farm vehicle, the processor determines the aligned state byfurther considering a third separation distance between a fifth pointpositioned between the first point and the second point and a sixthpoint positioned between the third point and the fourth point.

In the farm vehicle, the processor determines whether the first couplingunit and the second coupling unit are coupled to each other on the basisof the current state of the first coupling unit.

In the farm vehicle, the farm vehicle further includes a displayconfigured to output a path through which the farm vehicle moves so thatthe first coupling unit is coupled to the second coupling unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a view for describing an example of a system including a farmvehicle according to an embodiment;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views for describing an example of controlling afarm vehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a view for describing an example in which data obtained fromthe farm vehicle according to an embodiment is transmitted to anexternal device;

FIG. 4 is a view for describing another example of controlling the farmvehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of a farm vehicle to which awork machine according to an embodiment is mounted;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for describing an example of the farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method ofautomatically combining the farm vehicle and the work machine accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a view for describing an example of confirming a currentposition of the work machine by a processor;

FIG. 9 is a view for describing an example in which the farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment moves;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views for describing an example in which theprocessor according to an embodiment determines an aligned state of afirst coupling unit and a second coupling unit, and the farm vehicle iscombined with the work machine;

FIG. 12 is a view for describing another example in which the processoraccording to an embodiment determines an aligned state of the firstcoupling unit and the second coupling unit, and the farm vehicle iscombined with the work machine;

FIG. 13 is a view for describing an example of determining whether thefirst coupling unit may be coupled to the second coupling unit by theprocessor according to an embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a method ofautomatically combining the farm vehicle and the work machine accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a view for describing an example of outputting a path throughwhich the farm vehicle according to an embodiment moves;

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an example of a farm vehicle to which awork machine according to an embodiment is mounted;

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating another example of a farm vehicle towhich a work machine according to an embodiment is mounted;

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating an example of a bale transport vehicleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a diagram for describing an example of a configuration of afarm vehicle and a bale transport vehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example of a case in which there are amaster vehicle and a plurality of slave vehicles according to anembodiment;

FIG. 21 is a view for describing a position of a discharged baleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating an example of the movement of a slavevehicle other than a bale collection slave vehicle;

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate examples of a bale type according to anembodiment;

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an autonomous driving method of afarm vehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating an example of a vehicle group accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 26 is a diagram for describing an example of a master vehicle and aslave vehicle according to an embodiment;

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating an example in which a path is changedwhen there is an obstacle, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 28 is a view illustrating an example in which a driving command forthe slave vehicle is reset when a path of the master vehicle is changed,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating an example of a case in which a path ofthe slave vehicle is reset, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 30 is a view illustrating an example in which a change in a path ofthe master vehicle causes a path of another slave vehicle to be changed,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 31 illustrates an example of platooning at a boundary line of afarming work space according to an embodiment;

FIG. 32 illustrates an example of a case in which an attribute ofplatooning is a series work according to an embodiment;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a platooning method according to anembodiment;

FIGS. 34A to 34B are views for describing a method of recommending farmproducts using farmland evaluation data according to an embodiment;

FIG. 35 is a diagram for describing pieces of data used to recommendfarm products, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 36 is a diagram for describing a method of recommending a finalfarm product on the basis of farmland evaluation data for each periodaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recommending farmproducts suitable for farmland characteristics according to anembodiment;

FIG. 38 is a block diagram of a farmland recommendation server accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 39 illustrates an example of a dashboard of a farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 40 illustrates an example of a dashboard of the farm vehicleaccording to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining that anemergency situation has been resolved for each network, according to anembodiment;

FIG. 42 is a view illustrating an example of providing an emergencysituation alarm to a user terminal according to an embodiment;

FIG. 43 is a view illustrating an example of providing an emergencysituation resolution alarm to the user terminal according to anembodiment;

FIG. 44 illustrates an example of cases that may occur for eachemergency situation according to an embodiment;

FIG. 45 illustrates an example of a situation in which a farm vehicleperforms autonomous driving in a cultivation area according to anembodiment;

FIG. 46 illustrates an example of a situation in which a position of thefarm vehicle is moved when a driving mode is switched to an autonomousdriving mode according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 47 is a flowchart illustrating an autonomous driving method of thefarm vehicle according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The terms used herein are general terms that are currently widely usedin consideration of functions in the present embodiments but may varyaccording to an intention of those of ordinary skill in the art,precedents, or the emergence of new technologies. In addition, theapplicant may arbitrarily select terms in a particular case, and in thiscase, the meaning of the terms will be described in detail in thecorresponding part. Accordingly, the terms used herein should be definedon the basis of the meaning of the terms and the content throughout thepresent embodiments, instead of the names of the terms.

The present embodiments may be susceptible to various modifications andinclude various forms, and some embodiments will be illustrated in thedrawings and described in detail. However, there is no intent to limitthe present embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on thecontrary, it should be understood that the present embodiments are tocover particular modifications, equivalents, and alternatives fallingwithin the spirit and scope of the present embodiments. The terms usedin the present specification are only used to describe the embodimentsand are not intended to limit the present embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, the terms used herein have the same meaning ascommonly understood by those skilled in the art to which presentembodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, such asthose defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted ashaving a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context ofthe relevant art and this specification and will not be interpreted inan idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

The detailed description of the present disclosure to be described belowrefers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specificembodiments in which the present disclosure may be implemented. Theseembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the present disclosure. It is to be understoodthat various embodiments of the present disclosure are different fromeach other, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, specificshapes, structures, and characteristics described herein may be changedfrom one embodiment to another embodiment and implemented withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Inaddition, it should be understood that positions or arrangements ofindividual components in each embodiment may be changed withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the detailed description described below is not implementedin a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure mayencompass the scope claimed by claims and all scopes equivalent thereto.In drawings, the like reference numerals denote the same or similarcomponents over various aspects.

Meanwhile, the technical features individually described in one drawingin this specification may be implemented separately or at the same time.

As used herein, “unit” or “module” may be a hardware component to whichmechanical elements are coupled, a hardware component such as aprocessor or a circuit, and/or a software component executed by aprocessor or a circuit.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in orderto enable those of ordinary skill in the art to easily practice thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a view for describing an example of a system including a farmvehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a system 1 includes a farm vehicle 10, a server20, an operator 30, and an another operator 40 other than the operator30. In the following description, the operator 30 and the anotheroperator 40 may be natural persons or corporations, as well as devices(e.g., various devices communicatable with other devices) used by theoperator 30 and the another operator 40, respectively.

The farm vehicle 10 may include a vehicle that may be utilized inagriculture. For example, the farm vehicle 10 may perform farming work(e.g., a cultivation of a field or paddy, a transport of agriculturalmaterials, and the like) that must be performed in agriculture, and maybe used by the operator 30 to move to farmland or the like. For example,the farm vehicle 10 may be a tractor, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto.

Meanwhile, the farm vehicle 10 may not be limited to a vehicle that maybe utilized only in agriculture. In other words, the farm vehicle 10 mayalso refer to a moving means that is not limited to being utilized inagriculture, such as a conventional passenger car, truck, motorcycle, orthe like.

The farm vehicle 10 may perform wired and/or wireless communication withthe operator 30 and/or the another operator 40 via the server 20. Inaddition, the farm vehicle 10 may perform wireless communication with asatellite 50 to implement various functions using global positioningsystem (GPS) signals.

Data obtained from the farm vehicle 10 may be transmitted to theoperator 30 and/or the another operator 40 via the server 20. Inaddition, the operator 30 and/or the another operator 40 may transmitdata to the farm vehicle 10. Thus, the operator 30 and/or the anotheroperator 40 may perform various works on the basis of data related tothe farm vehicle 10. In addition, as the farm vehicle 10 performscommunication with the operator 30, the operator 30 may perform variouscontrols regarding the operation of the farm vehicle 10. For example,the operator 30 may perform driving, parking, farming works, and thelike of the farm vehicle 10 even without directly boarding on the farmvehicle 10.

For example, the wired communication method may be a wired cableconnection, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.Meanwhile, the wireless communication method may correspond to, but isnot limited to, near field communication (NFC), ZigBee, Bluetooth, ultrawideband (UWB) communication, long term evolution (LTE), globalnavigation satellite system (GNSS), emergency call (eCall), and thelike.

Meanwhile, the communication may also be performed between modulesincluded in the farm vehicle 10. For example, in the farm vehicle 10,the communication may be performed by Ethernet, controller area networkwith flexible data rate (CAN-FD), and the like, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

Further, in FIG. 1 , the farm vehicle 10 is illustrated as communicatingwith the operator 30 and the another operator 40 via the server 20, butthe present disclosure is not limited thereto For example, the farmvehicle 10, the operator 30, and/or the another operator 40 may becommunicatively connected directly. Accordingly, the operator 30 and/orthe another operator 40 may transmit and receive data related to thefarm vehicle 10 and perform control of the farm vehicle 10 withoutthrough the server 20.

The another operator 40 may be any operator related to the farm vehicle10 except for the operator 30. For example, any operator may correspondto the another operator 40 without limitation as long as the operator isdirectly/indirectly related to the farm vehicle 10, such as amanufacturer of the farm vehicle 10, a seller of the farm vehicle 10, afinancial institution, a government agency, and the like. Here, theexpression of “being directly/indirectly related” may be related to theproduction, sale, operation, finance, policy, or the like of the farmvehicle 10, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The farm vehicle 10 may be a mechanical vehicle. Here, the mechanicalvehicle refers to a traditional vehicle in which a mechanical signal isprimarily utilized in controlling the farm vehicle 10. In this case, aseparate control module may be attached to the farm vehicle 10, and theattached control module may communicate with an external device (e.g., adevice of the server 20 or the operator 30), thereby controlling thefarm vehicle 10.

Meanwhile, the farm vehicle 10 may be an electronic vehicle. Here, theelectronic vehicle refers to a vehicle in which an electronic signal ismainly utilized in controlling the farm vehicle 10. In this case, thefarm vehicle 10 may be controlled by communicating with an externaldevice (e.g., a device of the server 20 or the operator 30).

Meanwhile, the server 20 may transmit and receive data related to thefarm vehicle 10 and store the data. In addition, the server 20 mayprocess the stored data into a form that may be usefully utilized by theoperator 30 or another operator 40, and transmit the processed data tothe operator 30 or the another operator 40.

As described above, the system 1 may provide an environment differentfrom an environment, in which the conventional farm vehicle 10 is used,to the operator 30 or another operator 40. Specifically, in theconventional farm vehicle 10, the operator 30 directly operates the farmvehicle 10 and performs farming works. In addition, data, which may beobtained by the farm vehicle 10, must be directly written or rememberedby the operator 30, and the another operator 40 must rely on theoperator 30 to obtain information about the farm vehicle 10.

However, as the system 1 is being operated, the farm vehicle 10 may beoperated unmanned, and the operator 30 may freely control the farmvehicle 10 at a place spaced apart from the farm vehicle 10. Inaddition, the operator 30 and the another operator 40 may collect datarelated to the farm vehicle 10 without a separate effort, and processthe data collected from the farm vehicle 10. Alternatively, the operator30 and another operator 40 may also collect the result of processing thedata related to the farm vehicle 10 from the server 20.

Hereinafter, examples that may be implemented as the system 1 isoperated will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 .

FIGS. 2A and 2B are views for describing an example of controlling afarm vehicle according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example in which a conventional farm vehicle isoperated, and FIG. 2B illustrates an example in which the farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment is operated.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the conventional farm vehicle is driven andcontrolled as the operator 30 is directly involved. Specifically, thefarm vehicle is driven as the operator 30 boards on the farm vehicle andthen directly controls a steering device, an acceleration device, and adeceleration device included in the farm vehicle. In addition, theoperator 30 performs farming works by directly loading work tools on thefarm vehicle or connecting a work machine to the farm vehicle.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the farm vehicle 10 according to an embodiment maybe driven and controlled even though the operator 30 does not board thevehicle directly. Specifically, according to a control signaltransmitted from an external device (e.g., a device of the operator 30,the server 20, and the like), the farm vehicle 10 may perform autonomousdriving and autonomous working.

For example, a controller capable of controlling a steering device, anacceleration device, and a deceleration device may be installed in thefarm vehicle 10, and the farm vehicle 10 may be driven according to acontrol signal input to the controller. In particular, the controllermay be implemented as a general-purpose controller and may be installedin the conventional farm vehicle, which is described above withreference to FIG. 2A, so that the autonomous driving and working may beperformed without separation or modification of an element included inthe conventional farm vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a view for describing an example in which data obtained fromthe farm vehicle according to an embodiment is transmitted to anexternal device.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the farm vehicle 10 may perform communication withan external device 300. Here, the external device 300 may be the server20 of FIG. 1 , and/or a device of the operator 30 or the anotheroperator 40 of FIG. 1 . Any device may correspond to the external device300 without limitation as long as the device can communicate with otherdevices, compute or process data, and store data. For example, apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a smart phone, a wearable device,or the like may correspond to the external device 300, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

Various pieces of data may be generated depending on the driving andfarming works of the farm vehicle 10. For example, as the farm vehicle10 is produced, pieces of data for the farm vehicle 10 itself (e.g., amodel name, a horsepower, a release year, a factory price, atransmission type, an external shape, a specification, and the like) maybe generated. In addition, as the farm vehicle 10 is driven, CAN data,data related to an accident, data related to a failure, other drivingdata (e.g., an engine torque ratio, an engine load ratio, enginerevolutions per minute (RPM), an engine operation hour, an accumulatedfuel consumption amount, a fuel efficiency, engine failure information,an engine oil temperature, engine room temperature, a coolanttemperature, a current gear-shifting stage, a transmission oiltemperature, a travel distance, a travel time, and the like) may begenerated. In addition, as the farming work is performed by the farmvehicle 10, data related to farm equipment, data related to farmproducts, data related to a farmland on which the farming work isperformed, and the like may be generated.

The data generated in accordance with the driving and farming work ofthe farm vehicle 10 may be transmitted to the external device 300. Inaddition, the external device 300 may output and store the received dataand process the received data according to a predetermined criterion.Accordingly, various solutions associated with the farm vehicle 10 maybe provided to the operator 30.

As an example, through the external device 300, the operator 30 mayperform management of farming works, maintenance of the farm vehicle 10,remote diagnosis of the farm vehicle 10, efficiency management of a fuelefficiency of the farm vehicle 10, and the like.

As another example, through the external device 300, the operator 30 maytrack a current position of the farm vehicle 10, or monitor a currentfarming work of the farm vehicle 10. In addition, through the externaldevice 300, the operator 30 may remotely start or stop the engine of thefarm vehicle 10 and turn an air conditioning system of the farm vehicle10 on/off.

As still another example, through the external device 300, the operator30 may prevent the farm vehicle 10 from being stolen, and may start orstop the engine of the farm vehicle 10 without a key of the farm vehicle10. In addition, through the external device 300, the operator 30 maydetect an accident of the farm vehicle 10, or perform a report on anemergency situation (e.g., an injury of the operator 30, a failure ofthe farm vehicle 10, and the like).

FIG. 4 is a view for describing another example of controlling the farmvehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4 , an external device 400 may communicate with thefarm vehicle 10 and output information about a current state of the farmvehicle 10. For example, the external device 400 may output informationabout a current position of the farm vehicle 10 obtained through GPSsignals. In addition, when the farm vehicle 10 is currently travelling,the external device 400 may output information about an engine RPM, acurrent speed, a fuel efficiency, an operating time, a currentgear-shifting stage, and the like of the farm vehicle 10.

Accordingly, the operator 30 may identify the current state of the farmvehicle 10 and remotely control the farm vehicle 10. In other words, theoperator 30 may confirm information output from the external device 400without boarding the farm vehicle 10 and control various functions ofthe farm vehicle 10 through the external device 400, thereby realizingautonomous driving and/or autonomous working.

Conventionally, in order for the farm vehicle 10 to be combined with awork machine, efforts of the operator 30 are required. Specifically, theoperator 30 moves the farm vehicle 10 to a position adjacent to the workmachine, or conversely, moves the work machine to a position adjacent tothe farm vehicle 10, and then combines (connects) the work machine withthe farm vehicle 10.

In the farm vehicle 10 according to an embodiment, the farm vehicle 10is automatically combined with the work machine without efforts of theoperator 30. Specifically, the farm vehicle 10 confirms a currentposition of the work machine and automatically performs a controlprocess for being combined with the work machine. Hereinafter, anexample in which the farm vehicle 10 is automatically combined with thework machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 15 .

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an example of a farm vehicle to which awork machine according to an embodiment is mounted.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a farm vehicle 100 may perform a farming work orcivil engineering work while towing a work machine 500. The farm vehicle100 may provide a strong towing force to tow a heavy object, and mayprovide a plurality of gear-shifting stages to perform various works.

For example, the farm vehicle 100 may be a tractor. In addition, thework machine 500 may include mechanisms for performing various farmingworks, such as, for example, a spade, a plow, a harrow, a harrow, arake, a rotavator, and a harvester. Depending on the type of the workmachine 500 to be combined with the farm vehicle 100, the farm vehicle100 may perform various farming works such as tillage, soil crushing anddisease and pests control, water pumping, threshing, and the like.

The farm vehicle 100 may be combined with the work machine 500 through acoupling unit 140. For example, the coupling unit 140 may be positionedon a rear surface of the farm vehicle 100, but the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. In other words, the coupling unit 140 may bepositioned such that the work machine 500 is combined with the farmvehicle 100 at a position that does not interfere with the driving andworking of the farm vehicle 100.

The coupling unit 140 is coupled to a coupling unit 520 of the workmachine 500 so that a towing force of the farm vehicle 100 may betransmitted to the work machine 500. For example, the coupling unit 140may be a three-point connection device, and may include two lower linksand one upper link, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

The coupling unit 140 may adjust a height of the work machine 500mounted on the coupling unit 140 by being raised or lowered according toa manual operation of the operator 30 or an automatic control of thefarm vehicle 100.

The work machine 500 may include a body 220, which performs work on landor farm products while being towed by the farm vehicle 100, and thecoupling unit 520 that is coupled to the coupling unit 140.

The coupling unit 520 may be disposed on a front side of the workmachine 500 and may be coupled to the coupling unit 140. In addition,the coupling unit 520 may include a plurality of coupling pointscorresponding to those of the coupling unit 140. For example, when thecoupling unit 140 is a three-point connection device, the coupling unit520 may include three coupling points, and when the coupling unit 140 isa two-point connection device, the coupling unit 520 may include twocoupling points.

The farm vehicle 100 according to an embodiment may control componentsincluded in the farm vehicle 100 so that the coupling unit 140 may beaccurately coupled to the coupling unit 520. Specifically, a processorof the farm vehicle 100 may control elements of the farm vehicle 100 sothat the coupling unit 140 may be coupled to the coupling unit 520 onthe basis of a current position of the work machine 500, and a currentposition and direction of the coupling unit 520.

Hereinafter, the components included in the farm vehicle 100 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 6 .

FIG. 6 is a diagram for describing an example of the farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 6 , the farm vehicle 100 includes a steering device130, the coupling unit 140, a traveling device 150, and a processor 160.Only components related to the present embodiment are illustrated in thefarm vehicle 100 shown in FIG. 6 . Accordingly, it will be appreciatedby those of ordinary skill in the art that other general components maybe further included in the farm vehicle 100 in addition to thecomponents shown in FIG. 6 .

The steering device 130 may receive an input for operating the farmvehicle 100 and the work machine 500. For example, the steering device130 may include a lever, a handle, a button, a touch screen, and thelike. As an example, the steering device 130 may receive an inputrelated to steering of the farm vehicle 100 from the operator 30, aninput related to a gear-shifting stage of the farm vehicle 100, and thelike. As another example, the farm vehicle 100 may perform steering andgear-shifting by automatically controlling the steering device 130.

The farm vehicle 100 may confirm information about the coupling unit 140and the coupling unit 520. As an example, the farm vehicle 100 mayreceive information about the manufacturer and model of each of thecoupling unit 140 and the coupling unit 520 and information about theshape and numerical value of each of the coupling unit 140 and thecoupling unit 520 from the operator 30 through a user input unit (e.g.,a button, a keyboard, a touch screen, and the like). As another example,the farm vehicle 100 may analyze an image of the work machine 500captured by a camera and read the information about the manufacturer andmodel of each of the coupling unit 140 and the coupling unit 520 and theinformation about the shape and numerical value of each of the couplingunit 140 and the coupling unit 520 from a storage unit.

The traveling device 150 refers to a device for moving a vehicle bodyusing power transmitted from a transmission device. As an example, thetraveling device 150 may include a front wheel 112, a rear wheel 114,and an axle. As another example, the traveling device 150 may be acrawler-type device including a caterpillar track.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated in FIG. 6 , the farm vehicle 100 mayinclude a power generation device, a transmission device, a powertake-off (P.T.O) device, a hydraulic device, and the like.

The power generation device may generate power required for the farmvehicle 100 to travel and perform work. For example, the powergeneration device may be a device equipped with a diesel engine or agasoline engine.

The transmission device may appropriately convert a vehicle speed or atowing force of the farm vehicle 100 into various speeds using the powertransmitted from the power generation device. For example, thetransmission device may be a mechanical transmission device or ahydraulic transmission device.

The power take-off (P.T.O) device is a device for transmitting a part ofthe power generated by the power generation device to the work machine500. For example, the power take-off device may be connected to thetransmission device, and transmit required amount of power to the workmachine 500 according to types of the work machine 500 and the work.

The hydraulic device is used for an operation of moving a part of thework machine 500 or the like. For example, the hydraulic device may movethe work machine 500 by driving a hydraulic pump using rotational powerof an engine, transmitting oil of hydraulic pressure generated in thehydraulic pump to a hydraulic cylinder through an operation valve, andpushing a piston using the hydraulic pressure.

The processor 160 controls all components included in the farm vehicle100. The processor 160 may perform driving, parking, working (e.g., afarming work, a civil engineering work, and the like), and the like ofthe farm vehicle 100 by controlling the operation of all the componentsincluded in the steering device 130, the coupling unit 140 and thetraveling device 150 as well as the farm vehicle 100.

For example, the processor 160 may be implemented by an array ofmultiple logical gates, or may be implemented by a combination of ageneral-purpose micro processor and a memory storing a program that isexecutable by the micro processor. In addition, it will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may beimplemented in other forms of hardware.

Hereinafter, an example in which the processor 160 controls the farmvehicle 100 to combine the farm vehicle 100 and the work machine 500will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 15 .

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method ofautomatically combining the farm vehicle and the work machine accordingto an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the method of automatically combining the farmvehicle and the work machine includes operations processed in timeseries by the farm vehicle 10 or 100 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 .Accordingly, it may be seen that the contents described above withrespect to the farm vehicles 10 and 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 are alsoapplied to the method of automatically combining the farm vehicle andthe work machine of FIG. 7 even when the contents are omitted below.

In operation 710, the processor 160 confirms a current position of thework machine 500.

For example, the processor 160 may confirm the current position of thework machine 500 on the basis of a position at a final time point atwhich the work machine 500 is separated from the farm vehicle 10 or 100.Hereinafter, an example of confirming the current position of the workmachine 500 by the processor 160 will be described with reference toFIG. 8 .

FIG. 8 is a view for describing an example of confirming the currentposition of the work machine by the processor.

The view on the left side of FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which thefarm vehicle 100 is combined with the work machine 500 to perform afarming work, and the view on the right side of FIG. 8 illustrates anexample in which the farm vehicle 100 is separated from the work machine500.

When the farming work is completed, the farm vehicle 100 may separatethe work machine 500 therefrom. For example, the farm vehicle 100 mayseparate the work machine 500 therefrom at a position at which thefarming work is completed, or may separate the work machine 500therefrom at a separate place in which the work machine 500 is stored.That is, the current position of the work machine 500 may be consideredas a final position at which the work machine 500 is separated from thefarm vehicle 100.

The processor 160 confirms the position at a final time point at whichthe work machine 500 is separated from the farm vehicle 100. Forexample, the farm vehicle 100 may store GPS coordinates corresponding tothe position of the farm vehicle 100 at which the farm vehicle 100finally separate the work machine 500 therefrom, and the processor 160may confirm the current position of the work machine 500 using thestored GPS coordinates.

Meanwhile, there may be various work machines 500 having a historycombined with the farm vehicle 100. In this case, the farm vehicle 100may store GPS coordinates corresponding to a position at which each ofthe various work machines 500 is finally separated. Accordingly, theprocessor 160 may confirm the type of the work machine 500 to becurrently combined and confirm the current position of the work machine500 using the stored GPS coordinates.

Referring to FIG. 7 again, in operation 720, the processor 160 controlsthe farm vehicle 10 or 100 such that the farm vehicle 10 or 100 moves ina range having a predetermined radius around the current position of thework machine 500.

Here, the range having a predetermined radius refers to a range in whichthe farm vehicle 10 or 100 may be finely moved and posture-adjusted inorder to be combined with the work machine 500. The predetermined radiusmay be previously determined on the basis of the type of the workmachine 500, the specifications of the farm vehicle 10 or 100, and thelike.

Hereinafter, an example of controlling the farm vehicle 10 or 100 tomove by the processor 160 will be described with reference to FIG. 9 .

FIG. 9 is a view for describing an example in which the farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment moves.

Referring to FIG. 9 , in order for the farm vehicle 100 to be combinedwith the work machine 500, the farm vehicle 100 moves from position A toposition B. Here, position B refers to a position on a range 900 havinga radius L about the work machine 500.

The work machine 500 may be positioned in a variety of postures due tosituations when separated from the farm vehicle 100 and a change inexternal environment (e.g., an influence of wind, a collision with otherobjects, or the like) after the separation. In order for the farmvehicle 100 to be combined with the work machine 500, the farm vehicle100 needs to move and adjust a posture thereof so that the coupling unit140 and the coupling unit 520 are aligned in a correct position.

The range 900 shown in FIG. 9 is a minimum range necessary for the farmvehicle 100 to move and adjust a posture thereof so that the couplingunit 140 and the coupling unit 520 are aligned in the correct position.For example, the range 900 may be previously set according to the typeof the work machine 500, the steerable range of the farm vehicle 100,and the like.

The processor 160 confirms the current position of the work machine 500and controls the steering device 130 and the traveling device 150 tomove the farm vehicle 100 to position B on the previously stored range900.

Referring to FIG. 7 again, in operation 730, the processor 160 controlsthe farm vehicle 10 or 100 so that the first coupling unit 520 and thesecond coupling unit 140 that is included in the farm vehicle 10 or 100may be coupled on the basis of the current position and direction of thefirst coupling unit 520 included in the work machine 500.

For example, the processor 160 may determine an aligned state of thefirst coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140 on the basis ofthe current position and direction of the first coupling unit 520.Specifically, the processor 160 may determine the aligned state of thefirst coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140 on the basis ofa separation distance between at least one point included in the firstcoupling unit 520 and at least one point included in the second couplingunit 140.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated in FIG. 7 , the processor 160 maydetermine whether the first coupling unit 520 is coupled to the secondcoupling unit 140 on the basis of a current state of the first couplingunit 520.

Hereinafter, examples of determining the aligned state of the firstcoupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140 by the processor 160will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12 . In addition, anexample of determining whether the first coupling unit 520 is coupled tothe second coupling unit 140 by the processor 160 will be described withreference to FIG. 13 .

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views for describing an example in which theprocessor according to an embodiment determines an aligned state of thefirst coupling unit and the second coupling unit, and the farm vehicleis combined with the work machine.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the processor 160 may measure a first separationdistance d1 between a first point 142 of the second coupling unit 140and a third point 522 of the first coupling unit 520 and a secondseparation distance d2 between a second point 144 of the second couplingunit 140 and a fourth point 524 of the first coupling unit 520 by usinga distance measuring sensor (hereinafter, referred to as a “distancesensor”).

Referring to FIG. 10 , the first point 142 of the second coupling unit140 and the third point 522 of the first coupling unit 520 are couplingpoints at which coupling elements, which are disposed at positionsopposite to each other and coupled to each other, positioned. Inaddition, the second point 144 of the second coupling unit 140 and thefourth point 524 of the first coupling unit 520 are coupling points atwhich coupling elements, which are disposed at positions opposite toeach other and coupled to each other, positioned.

For example, the distance sensor may include a transmission unitdisposed at the first point 142 of the second coupling unit 140 and areceiving unit disposed at the third point 522 of the first couplingunit 520. In addition, the distance sensor may include a transmissionunit disposed at the second point 144 of the second coupling unit 140and a receiving unit disposed at the fourth point 524 of the firstcoupling unit 520. However, in addition to the method described above,other devices capable of measuring the first separation distance d1 andthe second separation distance d2 may be employed as the distance sensorwithout limitation.

In addition, the processor 160 may determine the aligned state of thesecond coupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 on the basis ofthe first separation distance d1 and the second separation distance d2.

In general, the second coupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520may be coupled through a three-point connection, and for this, couplingof lower two points among the three points must be made first.Accordingly, in order to connect the lower two points among the threepoints, the processor 160 may control the traveling of the farm vehicle100 so that the first point 142 and the second point 144 of the secondcoupling unit 140 may be respectively aligned with the third point 522and the fourth point 524 of the first coupling unit 520.

Referring to FIG. 10 , when the second coupling unit 140 and the firstcoupling unit 520 are not parallel to each other and the firstseparation distance d1 and the second separation distance d2 aredifferent from each other, the processor 160 may determine that thesecond coupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 are in analigned state in which coupling is not possible.

Referring to FIG. 11 , when the second coupling unit 140 and the firstcoupling unit 520 are parallel to each other and the first separationdistance d1 and the second separation distance d2 are the same, theprocessor 160 may determine that the second coupling unit 140 and thefirst coupling unit 520 are in an aligned state in which coupling ispossible.

Meanwhile, depending on a design of the second coupling unit 140 and thefirst coupling unit 520, when the second coupling unit 140 and the firstcoupling unit 520 are aligned in parallel, the first separation distanced1, the second separation distance d2, and a third separation distanced3 may be identical. In this case, the processor 160 may determine thealigned state of the first coupling unit 520 and the second couplingunit 140 on the basis of the third separation distance d3.

The processor 160 may measure the third separation distance d3 between afifth point 146 between the first point 142 and the second point 144 ofthe second coupling unit 140 and a sixth point 526 between the thirdpoint 522 and the fourth point 524 of the first coupling unit 520. Forexample, the distance sensor may include a transmission unit disposed atthe fifth point 146 and a receiving unit disposed at the sixth point526.

When the first separation distance d1, the second separation distanced2, and the third separation distance d3 are identical, the processor160 may determine that the second coupling unit 140 and the firstcoupling unit 520 are in a parallel state and in the aligned state inwhich coupling is possible. In addition, when at least one of the firstseparation distance d1, the second separation distance d2, and the thirdseparation distance d3 is not identical with the remaining one, theprocessor 160 may determine that the second coupling unit 140 and thefirst coupling unit 520 are in the aligned state in which coupling isnot possible.

Meanwhile, the processor 160 may output information about the alignedstate of the first coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140through a notification unit included in the farm vehicle 100.Specifically, the processor 160 may notify the user that the secondcoupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 are in the alignedstate in which coupling is not possible or in the aligned state in whichcoupling is possible through the notification unit.

Accordingly, the processor 160 may control the traveling of the farmvehicle 100 so that the first point 142 is coupled to the third point522 at the correct position, and the second point 144 is coupled to thefourth point 524 at the correct position.

Referring to FIG. 10 , when the first separation distance d1 and thesecond separation distance d2 are not identical with each other, theprocessor 160 may determine a backward traveling direction of the farmvehicle 100 in a direction that reduces the difference between the firstseparation distance d1 and the second separation distance d2.

When the second separation distance d2 is greater than the firstseparation distance d1, the processor 160 determines the backwardtraveling direction of the farm vehicle 100 in a direction in which thesecond separation distance d2 is reduced, thereby determining a steeringdirection of the front wheel 112 of the farm vehicle 100.

Referring to FIG. 11 , when the first separation distance d1 and thesecond separation distance d2 are identical, the processor 160 maydetermine the backward traveling direction of the farm vehicle 100 in adirection corresponding to an extending direction of the farm vehicle100. The processor 160 may determine the steering direction of the frontwheel 112 such that the front wheel 112 and the rear wheel 114 of thefarm vehicle 100 are parallel to each other.

FIG. 12 is a view for describing another example in which the processoraccording to an embodiment determines an aligned state of the firstcoupling unit and the second coupling unit, and the farm vehicle iscombined with the work machine.

Referring to FIG. 12 , even when the first separation distance d1 andthe second separation distance d2 are identical, the second couplingunit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 may be biased toward one sideand thus may be placed in an aligned state in which coupling is notpossible.

In this case, the processor 160 may determine the aligned state of thesecond coupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 on the basis ofa fifth separation distance d5 between the fifth point 146 of the secondcoupling unit 140 and the third point 522 of the first coupling unit 520and a fourth separation distance d4 between the fifth point 146 of thesecond coupling unit 140 and the fourth point 524 of the first couplingunit 520.

The processor 160 may measure the fourth separation distance d4 and thefifth separation distance d5 using a distance sensor. For example, thedistance sensor may include a light-emitting unit disposed at the fifthpoint 146, a first light-receiving unit disposed at the third point 522,and a second light-receiving unit disposed at the fourth point 524.

The fifth point 146 is an intermediate point between the first point 142and the second point 144. The sixth point 526 is an intermediate pointbetween the third point 522 and the fourth point 524. Accordingly, whenthe fourth separation distance d4 and the fifth separation distance d5are identical, the processor 160 may determine that the second couplingunit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 are in an aligned state, inwhich coupling is possible, without being biased toward one side.

Thereafter, the processor 160 may determine the backward travelingdirection of the farm vehicle 100 in a direction identical to theextending direction of the farm vehicle 100. The processor 160 maydetermine the steering direction of the front wheel 112 such that thefront wheel 112 and the rear wheel 114 of the farm vehicle 100 areparallel to each other.

When the fourth separation distance d4 and the fifth separation distanced5 are not identical, the processor 160 may determine that the secondcoupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 are in states in whichcoupling is not possible. The processor 160 may determine the backwardtraveling direction of the farm vehicle 100 and the steering directionof the front wheel 112 in a direction that reduces the differencebetween the fourth separation distance d4 and the fifth separationdistance d5.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12 , the processor 160may determine whether the first coupling unit 520 may be coupled to thesecond coupling unit 140 on the basis of the separation distancesbetween the first coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140. Inaddition, the processor 160 may confirm the current state of the workmachine 500 through a camera included in the farm vehicle 100, anddetermine whether the first coupling unit 520 may be coupled to thesecond coupling unit 140.

FIG. 13 is a view for describing an example of determining whether thefirst coupling unit may be coupled to the second coupling unit by theprocessor according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 13 , the processor 160 may confirm the current stateof the work machine 500 through a camera. For example, the camera may bedisposed adjacent to the second coupling unit 140, and thus, what thefirst coupling unit 520 will look like may be confirmed from a view ofthe second coupling unit 140.

In order for the first coupling unit 520 the second coupling unit 140 tobe coupled to each other, the first coupling unit 520 and the secondcoupling unit 140 should face to each other. As shown in FIG. 13 , whenthe first coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140 face eachother, the processor 160 determines that the first coupling unit 520 maybe coupled to the second coupling unit 140. At this point, the processor160 confirms the separation distances according to the contentsdescribed above with reference to FIGS. 10 to 12 , and controls thetraveling of the farm vehicle 100.

When the first coupling unit 520 is facing upward or downward as in theview in the right lower end of FIG. 13 , it is difficult to couple thefirst coupling unit 520 to the second coupling unit 140. In this case,the processor 160 determines that the first coupling unit 520 may not becoupled to the second coupling unit 140.

The processor 160 may inform the user that the second coupling unit 140and the first coupling unit 520 are in states, in which coupling is notpossible or coupling is possible, through the notification unit.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating another example of a method ofautomatically combining the farm vehicle and the work machine accordingto an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 14 , the method of automatically combining the farmvehicle and the work machine includes operations processed in timeseries by the farm vehicle 10 or 100 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 13 .Accordingly, it may be seen that the contents described above withrespect to the farm vehicles 10 and 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 13 are alsoapplied to the method of automatically combining the farm vehicle andthe work machine of FIG. 14 even when the contents are omitted below.

Operations 1410 to 1430 of FIG. 14 correspond to operations 710 to 730of FIG. 7 . Accordingly, detailed descriptions of operations 1410 to1430 will be omitted.

In operation 1440, the processor 160 outputs a path through which thefarm vehicle 10 or 100 moves so that the first coupling unit 520 and thesecond coupling unit 140 are coupled to each other.

For example, the processor 160 may add the path, through which the farmvehicle 10. or 100 moves, to an image captured through the camera of thefarm vehicle 10 or 100 and output the image to which the path is addedthrough a display.

FIG. 15 is a view for describing an example of outputting the paththrough which the farm vehicle according to an embodiment moves.

Referring to FIG. 15 , the processor 160 may visually display that thesecond coupling unit 140 and the first coupling unit 520 are coupled toeach other through a display 170.

The processor 160 may capture an image related to a process in which thefirst coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140 are coupled toeach other using the camera. In addition, the processor 160 may outputthe captured image through the display 170.

Alternatively, the processor 160 may add a path, through which the farmvehicle 100 should move, to the image on the basis of the separationdistances between each of the points of the second coupling unit 140 andeach of the points of the first coupling unit 520 measured using thedistance sensor. In addition, the processor 160 may output the image towhich the path is added through the display 170.

For example, the processor 160 may display information about an alignedstate of the first coupling unit 520 and the second coupling unit 140and information about traveling of the farm vehicle 100 through thedisplay 170. The processor 160 may display changes in the separationdistances d1 and d2, which may occur as the farm vehicle 100 travels,respectively between the points 142 and 144 of the second coupling unit140 of the farm vehicle 100 and the points 522 and 524 of the firstcoupling unit 520 through the display 170.

FIG. 16 is a view illustrating an example of a farm vehicle to which awork machine according to an embodiment is mounted.

Referring to FIG. 16 , a farm vehicle 1900 may perform a farming work ora civil engineering work while towing a work machine 1600. The farmvehicle 1900 may provide a strong towing force to tow a heavy object,and may provide a plurality of gear-shifting stages to perform variousworks.

For example, the farm vehicle 1900 may be a tractor. In addition, in anexample of the disclosure, the work machine 1600 may be a baler. Whenthe work machine 1600 combined with the farm vehicle 1900 is a baler,the work machine 1600 may perform a farming work of collecting andcompressing hay to generate a bale.

In another example, the work machine 1600 may include mechanismsconfigured to perform various farming works, such as, a spade, a plow, aharrow, a rake, a rotavator, and a harvester. The farm vehicle 1900 maybe combined with the work machine 1600 through a coupling unit 1940.However, the present disclosure is not necessarily limited thereto, anddepending on the type of the work machine 1600, the farm vehicle 1900may perform various farming works such as tillage, soil crushing anddisease and pests, water pumping, threshing, and the like. For example,the coupling unit 1940 may be positioned on a rear surface of the farmvehicle 1900, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Inother words, the coupling unit 1940 may be positioned such that the workmachine 1600 is combined with the farm vehicle 1900 at a position thatdoes not interfere with the driving and working of the farm vehicle1900.

The coupling unit 1940 is coupled to a coupling device of the workmachine 1600 so that a towing force of the farm vehicle 1900 may betransmitted to the work machine 1600. For example, the coupling unit1940 may be a three-point connection device, and may include two lowerlinks and one upper link, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto.

The coupling unit 1940 may adjust a height of the work machine 1600mounted on the coupling unit 1940 by being raised or lowered accordingto a manual operation of the operator 30 or an automatic control of thefarm vehicle 1900.

The work machine 1600 may include a body 1610 that performs work on landor farm products while being towed by the farm vehicle 1900, and thecoupling device that is coupled to the coupling unit 1940. The couplingdevice of the work machine 1600 may be disposed on a front side of thework machine 1600 and may be coupled to the coupling unit 1940. Inaddition, the coupling device may include a plurality of coupling pointscorresponding to those of the coupling unit 1940. For example, when thecoupling unit 1940 is a three-point connection device, the couplingdevice may include three coupling points, and when the coupling unit1940 is a two-point connection device, the coupling device may includetwo coupling points. In addition, the coupling unit 1940 and thecoupling device may each include a transmission line through which acommand for controlling the work machine 1600 by the farm vehicle 1900is transmitted.

The farm vehicle 1900 according to an embodiment may control componentsincluded in the farm vehicle 1900 so that the work machine 1600 isaccurately combined therewith due to the coupling unit 1940.Specifically, a processor of the farm vehicle 1900 may control elementsof the farm vehicle 1900 so that the coupling unit 1940 may be coupledto the coupling device of the work machine 1600 on the basis of acurrent position of the work machine 1600, and a current position anddirection of the coupling device.

Meanwhile, as described above, the work machine 1600 combined with thefarm vehicle 1900 due to the coupling unit 1940 may be a baler 1600. Thebaler 1600 is a work machine for collecting hay, and may collect andcompress harvested hay. The compressed hay is referred to as a bale, andthe baler may be a hay baler. In the embodiment of FIG. 16 , the workmachine 1600 may include the body 1610 for collecting and compressinghay to generate a bale, a wheel 1620, which is moved by towing power ofthe farm vehicle 1900, and an discharge port 1630 through which the baleis discharged. According to an embodiment, the baler 1600 may be aplunger baler for binding hay into a rectangular parallelepiped shape ora round baler for binding hay into a cylindrical shape. Hereinafter, thebaler 1600 may be described as an example of the work machine.

More specifically, the body 1610 of the baler 1600 may perform a work ofcollecting and compressing hay to generate a bale. To this end, althoughnot clearly distinguished and shown in the embodiment described withreference to FIG. 16 , the body 1610 may include a pickup device, atransfer auger, a bale chamber, a plunger, and a binding device. Thepickup device of the body 1610 may lift hay and transfer the lifted hayto the bale chamber using the transfer auger. The hay transferred to thebale chamber is compressed by a reciprocating plunger, and a compressiondensity may be adjusted by a tension bar in the chamber. In addition,when a length of the bale is adjusted by a bale length measuring wheeland the bale is molded to a predetermined length, the bale is bound bythe binding device, and at this point, a twine knotter may beadditionally provided to prevent a binding string from being loosened.The generated bales are sequentially pushed to the rear of the baler1600, and may be discharged when the discharge port 1630 is open.

According to an embodiment, the farm vehicle 1900 may control operationsof the baler 1600, which is a work machine coupled due to the couplingunit 1940. For example, when the baler 1600 has a separate power source,the farm vehicle 1900 may control the movement of the baler bycontrolling the corresponding power source to move the wheel 1620. Inaddition, the process of collecting and compressing hay to generate abale may be controlled in the body 1610 of the baler 1600. In addition,when the generation of the bale is completed, the opening and closing ofthe discharge port 1630 may be controlled so that the bale is dischargedthrough the discharge port 1630.

FIG. 17 is a view illustrating another example of a farm vehicle towhich a work machine according to an embodiment is mounted.

FIG. 17 illustrates a modified example of the embodiment of FIG. 16 ,and thus, descriptions of overlapping configurations and concepts willbe omitted. FIG. 17 illustrates an example of a configuration in whichthe work machine combined with the farm vehicle 1900 is the baler 1600similar to FIG. 16 . In this case, the baler 1600 of the embodiment ofFIG. 17 may additionally include a transfer unit 1640. At this point,the transfer unit 1640 may include a transfer rail so that the baledischarged by the opening of the discharge port 1630 is transferred. Thetransfer unit 1640 may be a bale chute or a bale thrower, and theoperation of loading the bale discharged from the discharge port 1630 ona bale transport vehicle may be automated. Alternatively, the transferunit 1640 may serve to transfer the bale so that a bale loader mountedin the bale transport vehicle may more easily collect the bale.

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating an example of a bale transport vehicleaccording to an embodiment.

A bale transport vehicle 1800 of FIG. 18 may be a bale loader thatcollects and loads bales and transport the bales. The bale transportvehicle 1800 may include a traveling unit 1810, a loading unit 1820, anda lifting unit 1830. The traveling unit 1810 may include a steeringdevice, and the traveling unit 1810 may receive an input for operatingthe bale transport vehicle 1800. In an embodiment, the traveling unit1810 may include a steering device controlled under direct human controlor may include a steering device controlled by a control command fromthe farm vehicle 1900. That is, the traveling unit 1810 may receive aninput by human related to steering of the bale transport vehicle 1800and may receive a command related to steering and driving from the farmvehicle 1900.

In addition, the bale transport vehicle 1800 may lift a bale 18000 onthe ground and load the bale 18000 on the loading unit 1820 by using thelifting unit 1830. In another embodiment, the lifting unit 1830 may liftthe bale 18000 placed on the transfer unit of the bale transport vehicle1800 and load the bale 18000 on the loading unit 1820. The loading unit1820 is a space, in which a bale is loaded, in the bale transportvehicle 1800, and may be provided in a closed form so that the loadedbale does not fall therefrom. Although an example in which only one bale18000 is loaded on the loading unit 1820 is illustrated in theembodiment of FIG. 18 , the size of the loading unit 1820 may bevariously provided, and a plurality of bales 18000 may be loaded. Itwill be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that, in FIG.18 , only components of the bale transport vehicle 1800 related to thepresent embodiment are illustrated and other general components notillustrated in FIG. 18 may be included in the bale transport vehicle1800.

Further, in an embodiment, the bale transport vehicle 1800 and the farmvehicle 1900 are separate vehicles, but driving and working operationsof the bale transport vehicle 1800 may be controlled by the farm vehicle1900. Accordingly, in the following description, the farm vehicle 1900may be referred to as a master vehicle, and the bale transport vehicle1800 may be referred to as a slave vehicle. Hereinafter, componentsincluded in the farm vehicle 1900 and the bale transport vehicle 1800will be described with reference to FIG. 19 , and a method ofcontrolling the bale transport vehicle 1800 by the farm vehicle 1900will be described.

FIG. 19 is a diagram for describing an example of a configuration of afarm vehicle and a bale transport vehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 19 , a farm vehicle 1900 includes a coupling unit1940, a traveling unit 1950, a work unit 1960, a camera 1970, and aprocessor 1980. In addition, a bale transport vehicle 1800 includes atraveling unit 1810, a loading unit 1820, a lifting unit 1830, and acamera 1940A. In the farm vehicle 1900 and the bale transport vehicle1800 illustrated in FIG. 19 , only components related to the presentembodiment are illustrated. Accordingly, it will be understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art that other general components may befurther included in the farm vehicle 1900 in addition to the componentsillustrated in FIG. 19 .

The traveling unit 1950 may receive and process an input for controllingdriving of the farm vehicle 1900. For example, the traveling unit 1950may include a lever, a steering wheel, a button, a touch screen, and thelike. As an example, the traveling unit 1950 may receive an inputrelated to steering of the farm vehicle 1900 from the operator 30through a steering device 130, an input related to a gear-shifting stageof the farm vehicle 1900, and the like. As another example, the farmvehicle 1900 may perform steering and gear-shifting by automaticallycontrolling the steering device 130. In addition, the traveling unit1950 may move a vehicle body using power transmitted from a transmissiondevice. As an example, a traveling device of the traveling unit 1950 mayinclude a rear wheel 112, a front wheel 114, and an axle.

The farm vehicle 1900 may confirm information about the coupling unit1940. As an example, the farm vehicle 1900 may receive information abouta model related to the work machine 1600, which is connected thereto dueto the coupling unit 1940, and information about the shape and numericalvalue of a coupling device connected to the coupling unit 1940. Asanother example, the farm vehicle 1900 may analyze an image of the workmachine 1600 captured by the camera 1970 and read information about themanufacturer and model of the work machine 1600, and information aboutthe shape and numerical value of the coupling device connected to thecoupling unit 1940 from a storage unit.

The work unit 1960 controls the driving and working of the work machine1600 connected to the coupling unit 1940 of the farm vehicle 1900. Asdescribed above, the work machine 1600 may be a baler, and the work unit1960 may control the entire process of the baler for collecting andcompressing hay to generate a bale and discharging the bale. In anembodiment, the work unit 1960 may use the camera 1970 to control aprocess in which the baler generates a bale in the body 1610, and mayobtain and control a time point and position at which the bale isdischarged.

The processor 1980 controls all components included in the farm vehicle1900. The processor 1980 may control operations of all the componentsincluded in the farm vehicle 1900 as well as components included in thesteering device 130, the coupling unit 1940, and the traveling unit1950, so that the farm vehicle 1900 may perform driving, parking,working (e.g., a farming work, a civil engineering work, and the like),and the like.

For example, the processor 1980 may be implemented by an array ofmultiple logical gates, or may be implemented by a combination of ageneral-purpose micro processor and a memory storing a program that isexecutable by the micro processor. In addition, it will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art that the present embodiment may beimplemented in other forms of hardware.

In an embodiment, the processor 1980 may control autonomous driving ofthe farm vehicle. The processor 1980 may determine a driving mode of thefarm vehicle as one of an autonomous driving mode or a manual drivingmode. The autonomous driving mode is a mode that allows the farm vehicleto travel without the operation of a driver or a passenger. In theautonomous driving mode, the processor 1980 may monitor the travelingenvironment of the farm vehicle and control all aspects of the drivingoperation, and perform a response to an emergency situation. Inaddition, although not illustrated herein, the processor 1980 may allowthe farm vehicle to perform all autonomous driving functions that ageneral autonomous vehicle performs. In addition, the manual drivingmode is a mode in which the driver or passenger entirely controls alloperations and manages all dynamic driving.

In addition, in an embodiment, the processor 1980 may control thedriving and working of the bale transport vehicle 1800. When the workmachine 1600 is a baler, the bale transport vehicle 1800, which collectsand transports a discharged bale when the bale is discharged onto theground, is required separately. In addition, a plurality of baletransport vehicles may be required in consideration of a bale generationspeed, a bale collection speed, and a bale transport speed.Conventionally, since an operator who drives the bale transport vehicle1800 was separately required, there is a problem in that an operator forperforming a bale transport operation must be additionally input inaddition to an operator for performing a bale generation operation inthe farm vehicle 1900. Alternatively, when the number of operators isinsufficient, there is a problem in that a working time is significantlyincreased because the farm vehicle 1900 generates all the bales and thenthe bales are collected at once again by the bale transport vehicle1800. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the drivingand working of the bale transport vehicle 1800 may be controlled by theprocessor 1980 to automatically collect, load, and transfer bales, sothat no additional operator is required, thereby reducing costs andtime.

More specifically, the bale transport vehicle 1800 may include thetraveling unit 1810, the loading unit 1820, the lifting unit 1830, andthe camera 1940A. The traveling unit 1810 basically has the samefunction as the traveling unit 1950 of the farm vehicle 1900 but has afeature of being automatically operated under the control of the farmvehicle 1900. The loading unit 1820 is a space in which the collectedbale is loaded, as described above.

In addition, the lifting unit 1830 serves to lift bales present on theground or on the transfer device and load the bales on the loading unit1820. The lifting unit 1830 may obtain a position of the bale on thebasis of a bale collection command of the farm vehicle 1900 andautomatically collect the bale. At this point, the lifting unit 1830 mayobtain all information about the position, shape, and direction of thebale from the farm vehicle 1900, and some information about the bale maybe obtained by the camera 1940A of the bale transport vehicle 1800.

A processor 1950A may communicate with the processor 1980 of the farmvehicle 1900 and transmit control commands received from the farmvehicle 1900 to each of the devices. Hereinafter, the farm vehicle 1900is referred to as a master vehicle and the bale transport vehicle 1800is referred to as a slave vehicle, and a method of controlling one ormore slave vehicles by the master vehicle will be described in detail.

First, the processor 1980 of the master vehicle establishes acommunication connection with one or more slave vehicles.

FIG. 20 is a view illustrating an example of a case in which there are amaster vehicle and a plurality of slave vehicles according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 20 , a master vehicle 100 may establish communicationconnections with a first slave vehicle 1800-1 and a second slave vehicle1800-2. The processor 1980 may detect slave vehicles, which are presentin a predetermined radius around the master vehicle 100 and establishcommunication connections with the corresponding slave vehicles. Inanother embodiment, the processor 1980 may detect slave vehiclespositioned in a predetermined work space and establish communicationconnections with the corresponding slave vehicles. When the processor1980 transmits a communication connection request to the slave vehicles1800, the processor 1950A of each of the slave vehicles 1800 maytransmit a response signal to the request to the master vehicle 100.

Next, the processor 1980 may obtain a current position of each of one ormore slave vehicles that are communicatively connected thereto anddetermine a bale collection vehicle. More specifically, the processor1980 may obtain a current position of each of the first slave vehicle1800-1 and the second slave vehicle 1800-2 that are communicativelyconnected thereto.

To this end, the processor 1980 may determine a reference position ofeach of the master vehicle and the slave vehicles. This is because thesize of the vehicle is large and it is necessary to first determine areference position in order to set an accurate position. Accordingly,the processor 1980 may determine the reference position of each of themaster vehicle 100 and the slave vehicles 1800.

In a more specific embodiment, the processor 1980 determines one pointm9 of a rear portion of the master vehicle 100 including the workmachine 1600 as a first position, which is the reference position of themaster vehicle. In addition, the processor 1980 may determine one points91 or s92 of a front portion of an nth slave vehicle as a second-nthposition, which is the reference position. In this case, the second-nthposition may have relative coordinates that are determined with respectto the first position. For example, a second-first position S91, whichis the reference position of the first slave vehicle 1800-1, may bedetermined to be relative coordinates having coordinates of m9 as a zeropoint.

Next, the processor 1980 calculates a distance between the firstposition and the second-nth position to determine a current distancebetween the master vehicle and each of the slave vehicles. In anembodiment, among a plurality of slave vehicles, the closest slavevehicle having the closest distance to the master vehicle may bedetermined as a bale collection slave vehicle. For example, each of adistance d91 between m9, which is the first position, and s91, which isthe second-first position and a distance d92 between the first positionand s92, which is a second-second position, may be calculated, and thesecond slave vehicle 1800-2 positioned at a closer distance may bedetermined as a bale collection slave vehicle. Thus, even when there arethe plurality of slave vehicles, the bale collection slave vehicle maybe determined on the basis of the distance, so that it is possible toefficiently collect the bales.

Next, the processor 1980 may obtain a bale generation completion signaland determine a bale position corresponding to the bale generationcompletion signal. The bale generation completion signal may be a signalgenerated by detecting that a baler, which is mounted as the workmachine of the master vehicle, has completed the generation of bales anddischarged the bales through the discharge port. The processor 1980 mayanalyze an image signal received from the camera 1970 mounted to themaster vehicle to obtain the bale generation completion signal.

As a more specific example, the processor 1980 may analyze the imagesignal of the camera 1970 to determine whether the discharge port of thebaler is open or closed or the bale is discharged, thereby obtaining thebale generation completion signal. In an embodiment, when the dischargeport is open as the bale generation operation is completed andtransferred to the discharge port, the processor 1980 may detect thisusing the camera 1970 to obtain the bale generation completion signal.Alternatively, the processor 1980 may use the camera 1970 to detect thatthe bale is discharged to the outside of the baler to obtain the balegeneration completion signal. As a result, by detecting the balegeneration completion signal through the camera, it is possible todetermine that there is a bale, which is required to be collected, evenwhen there is no separate input.

Next, the processor 1980 may determine a position of the balecorresponding to the bale generation completion signal. In this case,the processor 1980 may determine one point of the bale in a space as areference position of the bale to accurately determine the position ofthe bale. The reference position of the bale may be a third positiondetermined relative to the first position, which is the referenceposition of the master vehicle 100, after the bale is discharged andstopped on the ground.

FIG. 21 is a view for describing a position of a discharged baleaccording to an embodiment.

The embodiment of FIG. 21 is an embodiment subsequent to the embodimentof FIG. 20 , and a description of a configuration overlapping with thatof FIG. 20 will be omitted. When the master vehicle 100 generates anddischarges a bale, the processor 1980 obtains a position of the bale. Atthis point, after detecting that the bale arrives at the ground andstops, the processor 1980 may determine one point of the bale determinedrelative to a first position, which is a reference position of themaster vehicle, as a reference position of the bale. In the embodimentof FIG. 21 , a case in which the center of gravity of the bale isdetermined as a third position h10, which is the reference position ofthe bale, is exemplified.

In addition, the processor 1980 determines a moving position of the balecollection slave vehicle corresponding to the position of the bale. Asdescribed in the example of FIG. 20 , the second slave vehicle 1800-2having a closer distance to the master vehicle 100 may be determined asthe bale collection slave vehicle. The processor 1980 may determine themoving position of the second slave vehicle 1800-2 according to theposition of the bale.

As a more specific example, in the embodiment of FIG. 21 , the movingposition of the second slave vehicle 1800-2 may be determined on thebasis of the third position h10, which is the reference position of thebale. In an example, the moving position of the second slave vehicle1800-2 may be a position at which the lifting unit 1830 of the slavevehicle may collect the bale present in the third position h10.

Next, the processor 1980 transmits a bale collection command includingthe moving position of the bale collection slave vehicle to the balecollection slave vehicle. In the embodiment of FIG. 21 , the processor1980 may transmit the bale collection command to the second slavevehicle 1800-2.

In a specific embodiment, the bale collection command may include shapeinformation of the bale. More specifically, the bale collection commandincludes bale shape information including information about the shapeand size of the bale of the baler mounted to the master vehicle. Inaddition, the bale shape information may be obtained using the camera1970 mounted to the master vehicle. The bale shape information mayinclude pieces of information necessary for the slave vehicle to collectthe bale. For example, the slave vehicle may collect the bale when theslave vehicle has information such as whether the bale has a cylindricalshape or hexahedral shape, what size the bale is, or the like.Accordingly, the bale shape information necessary for the slave vehicleto collect the bale may be included in the bale collection command. Thesecond slave vehicle 1800-2, which has received the bale collectioncommand, may move to the moving position and collect the bale. As aresult, a more accurate bale collection may be made by providing theshape information of the bale to be collected by the bale collectionslave vehicle.

In an additional embodiment, the processor 1980 may include informationabout a stop position and pose of the bale collection slave vehicle,which is obtained on the basis of information about the shape, size, andplaced direction of the bale, in the bale collection command. In orderfor the slave vehicle to easily collect the bale, the shape informationsuch as the shape and size of the bale may be required as describedabove, and information about a placed direction may be additionallyrequired.

This is because an arrangement direction of the bale may not match atraveling direction of the master vehicle or the slave vehicle since thebales fall irregularly onto the ground immediately after beingdischarged. Thus, on the basis of the traveling direction of the mastervehicle, an angle at which the bale is positioned, that is, informationabout the placed direction of the bale, may be additionally obtained.For example, in the embodiment of FIG. 21 , as direction information ofthe bale, it is possible to determine that an axis of the bale is placedat a position that is displaced by 90° with respect to the travelingdirection (direct downward direction) of the master vehicle.

The processor 1980 may generate the moving position and pose informationof the bale collection slave vehicle on the basis of the informationabout the placed direction of the bale. That is, the processor 1980 maydetermine pose information of the slave vehicle when the slave vehicleis stopped for bale collection so that the lifting unit 1830 of the balecollection slave vehicle may be correctly aligned according to thedirection information of the bale. As a result, it is possible tocollect the bales more accurately by determining even the pose of thebale collection slave vehicle when the bale collection slave vehicleperforms the collection operation.

Next, the processor 1980 may determine a moving speed and direction ofanother slave vehicle other than the bale collection slave vehicle onthe basis of a moving direction of the master vehicle. Since the mastervehicle continuously moves to generate and discharge a next bale afterdischarging the bale, when another slave vehicle other than the balecollection slave vehicle that currently collects the bale moves inadvance for a subsequent bale collection operation, the efficiency ofthe bale collection operation may be increased.

FIG. 22 is a view illustrating an example of the movement of the slavevehicle other than the bale collection slave vehicle.

The embodiment of FIG. 22 is an embodiment subsequent to the embodimentsof FIGS. 20 and 10 , and thus a description of the overlappingconfiguration will be omitted. As described in FIGS. 20 and 10 , thecurrent bale collection slave vehicle may be determined as the secondslave vehicle 1800-2, and thus second slave vehicle 1800-2 may be in astate of collecting or loading bales. Even during the second slavevehicle 1800-2 collects the bales, the master vehicle 100 may continueto perform the bale generation operation. Accordingly, the first slavevehicle 1800-1 may move while maintaining a predetermined interval d11with the master vehicle 100 in order to increase the efficiency of thebale collection operation at the time of discharging a subsequent bale.The master vehicle 100 may determine a moving position and direction ofthe first slave vehicle 1800-1, which collects a subsequently dischargedbale, in consideration of a generation speed and discharged position ofthe subsequently discharged bale.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment, depending on the type of a generatedbale, the type of a slave vehicle capable of collecting the generatedbale may be different. In this case, the processor 1980 may determinethe corresponding slave vehicle as a bale collection slave device onlywhen the type of the slave vehicle matches the bale type.

FIGS. 23A and 23B illustrate examples of a bale type according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 23A and 23B, the bale may have a cylindrical shape asshown in FIG. 23A, or a hexahedral shape as shown in FIG. 23B. When thework machine 1600 of the farm vehicle 1900 is a round baler, acylindrical bale may be generated, and when the work machine 1600 is aplunger baler, a hexahedral bale may be generated. The processor 1980 ofthe farm vehicle 1900 may obtain information about the shape of a balebeing generated by the current work machine 1600. At this point, theprocessor 1980 may obtain shape information of the bale using the camera1970, or obtain the shape information of the bale using model andmanufacturer information of the work machine 1600. In addition, inaddition to the shape type of the bale, the processor 1980 may obtainspecific shape information such as a cross-sectional radius r and aheight h in the case of a cylindrical bale, and a width d1, a length d2,and a height d3 in the case of a hexahedral bale. The processor 1980 mayinclude the obtained bale shape information in the bale collectioncommand and transmit the bale collection command to the bale transportvehicle 1800.

According to an embodiment, the slave vehicle closest to the mastervehicle may be the bale collection slave vehicle. However, when thegenerated bale is a hexahedral bale even though the slave vehicle havingthe closest distance is a vehicle of a model capable of collecting onlya cylindrical bale, the processor 1980 may determine another slavevehicle as the bale collection slave device.

In addition, according to an embodiment, when a collection failure orunable signal is obtained from the slave vehicle, the processor 1980 mayre-designate another slave vehicle as the bale collection slave vehicle.More specifically, the slave vehicle may transmit the collection failureor unable signal to the master vehicle due to reasons such as problemsinside the vehicle or mismatch between the bale type and the vehicletype. When the master vehicle receives the bale collection failure orunable signal, the master vehicle determines another vehicle from amongthe one or more slave vehicles as the bale collection slave vehicle. Inaddition, the processor 1980 of the master vehicle may transmit areturn-to-garage command to the slave vehicle corresponding to the balecollection failure or unable signal, and the slave vehicle, which hasreceived the return-to-garage command, may return to a garage.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an autonomous driving method of thefarm vehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 24 , the processor 1980 of the master vehicle 100establishes a communication connections with one or more slave vehicles(2410).

Next, a current position of each of the one or more slave vehicles,which are communicatively connected to the master vehicle, is obtained,and a bale collection slave vehicle is determined (2420).

Next, a bale generation completion signal is obtained, and a baleposition corresponding to the bale generation completion signal isdetermined (2430).

Next, a moving position of the bale collection slave vehiclecorresponding to the bale position is determined (2440).

FIG. 25 is a view illustrating an example of a vehicle group accordingto an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 25 , the vehicle group may include one master vehicle2600 and three slave vehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3. In thefollowing specification, individual vehicles or all vehicles of theslave vehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3 in the group may becollectively referred to as a slave vehicle 2500. In the embodiment ofFIG. 25 , one master vehicle 2600 may be the farm vehicle 100 shown inFIG. 5 . In addition, the three slave vehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and2500-3 may be farm vehicles of the same manufacturer and model as themaster vehicle 2600 and may be vehicles that perform the same farmingwork as the master vehicle 2600. Alternatively, according to anotherembodiment, the master vehicle 2600 and the slave vehicle 2500 may bevehicles different only in the work machine 500, or may be entirelydifferent vehicles. According to an embodiment, the master vehicle 2600may control a moving path and a travel property of the slave vehicle2500.

More specifically, the master vehicle 2600 may perform communicationconnection with the one or more slave vehicles. In order to perform thecommunication connection with the slave vehicle 2500, the master vehicle2600 may detect the slave vehicle 2500 present in a predetermined radiusand transmit a communication connection request thereto. As the slavevehicle 2500 responds to the communication connection request, thecommunication connection between the master vehicle and the slavevehicle 2500 may be performed. Alternatively, the master vehicle 2600may detect the slave vehicle 2500 present in a predetermined farmingwork space and perform a communication connection.

Meanwhile, after performing the communication connection, the mastervehicle 2600 may obtain a position of each of the master vehicle 2600and the slave vehicle 2500. More specifically, the master vehicle 2600may determine a first position, which is a reference position of themaster vehicle 2600, and then, when the one or more slave vehicles are nslave vehicles, the master vehicle 2600 may determine a second-nthposition (where n is a natural number greater than or equal to one),which is a reference position relatively determined with respect to thefirst position, for every slave vehicle 2500. That is, the position ofthe slave vehicle 2500 may be determined as relative coordinates withrespect to the master vehicle 2600. For example, a second-firstposition, which is a reference position of a first slave vehicle 2500-1,a second-second position, which is a reference position of a secondslave vehicle 2500-2, and a second-third position, which is a referenceposition of a third slave vehicle 2500-3, may be determined as relativecoordinates with respect to the first position that is the referenceposition of the master vehicle 2600.

In addition, the master vehicle 2600 may set paths corresponding to thevehicles included in the vehicle group. That is, the master vehicle 2600may set the path of the slave vehicle 2500 as well as the path thereof.In addition, the master vehicle 2600 may transmit a driving command or awork command to the slave vehicle 2500 on the basis of the set paths.

In the embodiment of FIG. 25 , the vehicle group may be arranged inparallel and may move in the same direction. More specifically, pathsr1, r2, and r3 of the first, second, and third slave vehicles 2500-1,2500-2, and 2500-3 may be set to be the same as a path R1 of the mastervehicle. In addition, speeds at which the first, second, and third slavevehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3 travel the paths r1, r2, and r3 maybe the same as that at which the master vehicle travels the path R1.

Meanwhile, when the vehicles in the vehicle group are arranged inparallel as shown in FIG. 25 , the vehicles in the vehicle group mayperform the same farming work. For example, the vehicles in the vehiclegroup may maintain a constant interval and perform the samerice-planting work. More specifically, under the control of the mastervehicle 2600, the slave vehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3 may performthe rice-planting work together with the master vehicle 2600 in the samedirection and speed. Accordingly, when a large amount of farming work isrequired, a work time may be shortened without adding additionalmanpower.

Hereinafter, a method in which the slave vehicles are controlled by themaster vehicle and travel in groups will be described in more detail.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for describing an example of an internalconfiguration of the master vehicle and the slave vehicle according toan embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 26 , the master vehicle 2600 may include a steeringdevice 2610, a traveling device 2620, a camera 2630, and a processor2640. In addition, the slave vehicle 2500 may include a steering device2510, a traveling device 2520, a camera 2530, and a processor 640. Inthe master vehicle 2600 and the slave vehicle 2500 illustrated in FIG.26 , only components related to the present embodiment are illustrated.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will be appreciated thatother general components other than the components illustrated in FIG.26 may be further included in the master vehicle 2600 and the slavevehicle 2500. That is, in the internal configuration of the mastervehicle 2600 and the slave vehicle 2500, some components may be omitteddepending on the type of farming work performed by the master vehicle2600 and the slave vehicle 2500 without being limited to the example ofFIG. 26 .

First, the steering device 2610 of the master vehicle 2600 may receivean input for operating the master vehicle 2600 and the work machine ofthe master vehicle 2600. For example, the steering device 2610 mayinclude a lever, a handle, a button, and a touch screen, and the like.As an example, the steering device 2610 may receive an input related tosteering of the master vehicle 2600 from an operator, an input relatedto a gear-shifting stage of the master vehicle 2600, and the like. Asanother example, the master vehicle 2600 may perform steering andgear-shifting by automatically controlling the steering device 2610.

The traveling device 2620 refers to a device for moving a vehicle bodyusing power transmitted from a transmission device. As an example, thetraveling device 2620 may include wheels like the front wheel 112 andthe rear wheel 114 of the farm vehicle 100 of FIG. 5 , and an axle. Asanother example, the traveling device 2620 may be a crawler-type deviceincluding a caterpillar track.

Meanwhile, although not illustrated in FIG. 26 , the master vehicle 2600may include a power generation device, the transmission device, a powertake-off device, a hydraulic device, and the like.

The power generation device may generate power required for the mastervehicle 2600 to travel and perform work. For example, the powergeneration device may be a device equipped with a diesel engine or agasoline engine.

The transmission device may appropriately convert a vehicle speed or atowing force of the master vehicle 2600 into various speeds using thepower transmitted from the power generation device. For example, thetransmission device may be a mechanical transmission device or ahydraulic transmission device.

The power take-off (P.T.O) device is a device for transmitting a part ofthe power generated by the power generation device to the work machineof the master vehicle 2600. For example, the power take-off device maybe connected to the transmission device, and transmit required amount ofpower the work machine according to the work machine and the work type.

The hydraulic device is used for the operation of moving a part of thework machine, or the like. For example, the hydraulic device may movethe work machine by driving a hydraulic pump using rotational power ofan engine, transmitting oil of hydraulic pressure generated in thehydraulic pump to a hydraulic cylinder through an operation valve, andpushing a piston using the hydraulic pressure.

In addition, the camera 2630 may capture an image of a situation outsidethe vehicle and transmit the image to the processor 2640. The mastervehicle 2600 may include a plurality of cameras 2630, and imagecapturing signals or video capturing signals of the plurality of cameras2630 may be obtained by the processor 2640. When the camera 2630 is apan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera capable of adjusting an image capturing area,an image capturing area of the camera 2630 may also be controlled by theprocessor 2640. Although only the camera 2630 is illustrated in FIG. 26, all sensors capable of sensing an internal of external environment ofthe vehicle may be provided in the master vehicle 2600 in addition tothe camera.

The processor 2640 controls all components included in the farm vehicle100. The processor 2640 may control operations of all componentsincluded in the farm vehicle 100 as well as the operations of thesteering device 2610, the traveling device 2620, and the camera 2630.Due to the control of the processor 2640, the farm vehicle 100 mayperform driving, parking, working (e.g., a farming work, a civilengineering work, and the like), and the like.

For example, the processor 2640 may be implemented by an array ofmultiple logical gates, or may be implemented by a combination of ageneral-purpose micro processor and a memory storing a program that isexecutable by the micro processor. In addition, it will be appreciatedby those skilled in the art that the present embodiment may beimplemented in other forms of hardware.

In an embodiment, the processor 2640 may control autonomous driving ofthe master vehicle 2600. The processor 2640 may determine a driving modeof the master vehicle as one of an autonomous driving mode or a manualdriving mode. The autonomous driving mode is a mode that allows themaster vehicle to travel without the operation of a driver or apassenger. In the autonomous driving mode, the processor 2640 maymonitor a traveling environment of the master vehicle and control allaspects of the driving operation, and perform a response to an emergencysituation. In addition, the processor 2640 may allow the master vehicle2600 to perform all autonomous driving functions that a generalautonomous vehicle performs. Unlike the autonomous driving mode, themanual driving mode is a mode in which the driver or passenger entirelycontrols all operations and manages all dynamic driving.

In addition, in an embodiment, the processor 2640 may control thedriving and working of the slave vehicle 2500. Conventionally, when aplurality of farm vehicles 100 are put into work for the efficiency offarming work, there is a problem in that manpower is additionallyrequired because an operator is required for each vehicle. However,according to the present disclosure, since the master vehicle maycontrol the driving and working of the slave vehicles in the vehiclegroup, the cost and time of the farming work may be reduced.

In an specific example, when the work machine of the master vehicle 2600is a baler, the slave vehicle 2500 configured to collect a dischargedbale when the bale generated by compressing hay is discharged to theground and a transport operation for the bale is additionally required.In addition, a plurality of bale transport vehicles may be required inconsideration of a bale generation speed, a bale collection speed, and abale transport speed. Conventionally, an operator who drives the slavevehicle 2500 was separately required, and thus there is a problem inthat an operator of the slave vehicle 2500 for performing a baletransport operation must be additionally input in addition to anoperator for performing a bale generation operation in the mastervehicle 2600. Alternatively, when the number of operators isinsufficient, there is a problem in that a working time is significantlyincreased because the master vehicle 2600 generates all bales and thenthe bales are collected at once by the slave vehicle 2500. According toan embodiment of the present disclosure, the driving and working of theslave vehicle 2500 may be controlled by the processor 2640 toautomatically collect, load, and transfer the bales, so that noadditional operator is required, thereby reducing costs and time.

In addition, in an embodiment, the steering device 2510, the travelingdevice 2520, and the camera 2530 of the slave vehicle 2500 mayrespectively perform substantially the same function as the steeringdevice 2610, the traveling device 2620, and the camera 2630 of themaster vehicle 2600. In addition, the processor 640 of the slave vehicle2500 may receive a driving command from the master vehicle 2600 tocontrol all the components of the slave vehicle 2500 including thesteering device 2510, the traveling device 2520, and the camera 2530.

Meanwhile, as described above, the master vehicle 2600 and the slavevehicle 2500 may be vehicles that perform the same work, and may bevehicles that perform different works. In the embodiment of FIG. 26 ,although the master vehicle 2600 and the slave vehicle 2500 areillustrated as including the same configuration, the internalconfigurations of the master vehicle 2600 and the slave vehicle 2500 maybe different. That is, as long as the processor 2640 of the mastervehicle 2600 may control the processor 640 of the slave vehicle 2500,the remaining components of the master vehicle 2600 and the slavevehicle 2500 may be different depending on a farming work environment.

Hereinafter, an example in which a path is changed due to an obstaclewill be described in detail before describing a platooning method, andthen, a configuration in which the master vehicle 2600 controls theslave vehicle 2500 will be described in detail.

FIG. 27 is a view illustrating an example in which a path is changedwhen there is an obstacle, according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 27 , an embodiment in which a path is changed when themaster vehicle 2600 encounters an obstacle 2700 during traveling a givenpath R. According to an embodiment, the master vehicle 2600 may detectthat obstacle 2700, which may affect the path, using the camera 2630,and the processor 2640 may change the path so that the obstacle 2700 isavoided.

In an embodiment, the obstacle 2700 is an object that may be avoided bychanging the path to prevent damage to farm products, vehicles, orpassengers by the processor 2640 on the basis of sensing data receivedfrom respective sensors. Alternatively, according to another embodimentof the present disclosure, the obstacle 2700 does not necessarily mean aphysical object, but rather, may mean an obstacle situation, such as asituation in which farm products that do not match a current worksetting are detected, or a situation in which working on an existingpath is not suitable due to unsuitable soil quality.

In an embodiment, the master vehicle 2600 may determine whether a changeis required in the currently set path R. At this point, the mastervehicle 2600 may determine whether the obstacle 2700 is present on themoving path R, and determine that a change is required when a normaltraveling of the vehicle or a normal work is impossible due to theobstacle 2700. When a change is required, the master vehicle 2600 maychange the path to be suitable for avoiding the obstacle.

In the embodiment of FIG. 27 , the master vehicle 2600 may detect theobstacle and automatically change the path. More specifically, themaster vehicle 2600 determines that there is a need to change the pathaccording to the obstacle 2700, and may reset the driving command on thebasis of the changed path. That is, the processor 2640 of the mastervehicle 2600 may change the existing path R moving straight in an eastdirection to a path that may avoid the obstacle 2700, and in this case,the processor 2640 may determine a change section R′ and reset thedriving command to travel the changed path.

In addition, the master vehicle 2600 may not only change the path of themaster vehicle 2600, but also set and change a path of the slave vehicle2500 if necessary. As described above, in the vehicle group includingthe master vehicle 2600 and the one or more slave vehicles 2500, themaster vehicle 2600 may control the operations of the slave vehicles2500. That is, the slave vehicle 2500 may move by a driving command ofthe master vehicle 2600 even without a separate operation input, andthus the slave vehicle 2500 may perform platooning without additionalmanpower.

FIG. 28 is a view illustrating an example in which the driving commandfor the slave vehicle is reset when the path of the master vehicle ischanged, according to an embodiment.

The embodiment of FIG. 28 may be an embodiment subsequent to theembodiment of FIG. 25 . Thus, the embodiment of FIG. 28 may be describedusing the reference numerals illustrated in FIG. 25 even when FIG. 25 isnot mentioned. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 28 , a vehicle groupmay include one master vehicle 2600 and three slave vehicles 2500-1,2500-2, and 2500-3 like in FIG. 25 . In addition, it is assumed that themaster vehicle 2600 is in a state of traveling a predetermined path R1,and the slave vehicle 2500 is in a state of traveling by a drivingcommand based on a predetermined path r1, r2, or r3.

According to an embodiment, when there is a need for a change on any oneof the platooning vehicles, a driving command for the vehicle related tothe changed path may be reset. In this case, the vehicle related to thechanged path may include the vehicle corresponding to the changed path,as well as another vehicle affected by the changed path. As a result, itis possible to prevent a deviation in farming working speeds between thevehicles during platooning and to perform consistent farming work.

In the embodiment of FIG. 28 , the processor 2640 of the master vehicle2600 may determine that there is a need to change the existing path R1to a changed path R1-1 when there is an obstacle, and determine thechanged path R1-1. At this point, the processor 2640 of the mastervehicle 2600 resets the driving command of the master vehicle 2600 onthe basis of the changed path R1-1.

In addition, when the path of the master vehicle 2600 is changed, thepath and driving command for the slave vehicle 2500 may be reset. Thatis, when the vehicle corresponding to the path R1, in which a change isrequired, is the master vehicle 2600, the driving command for the mastervehicle 2600 is reset, and accordingly, the driving command for theslave vehicle 2500 may also be reset. That is, in the embodiment of FIG.28 , the vehicles related to the changed path may include not only themaster vehicle but also the slave vehicle 2500.

In the platooning of the vehicles according to an embodiment, the mastervehicle 2600 controls the traveling of the slave vehicle 2500. When thepath of the master vehicle 2600 is changed from R1 to R1-1 as in theembodiment of FIG. 28 , a delay may occur in traveling and workingduring a change section R-1′. Despite the delay in driving and workingof the master vehicle 2600, when the slave vehicle 2500 is travelingaccording to the existing driving command, consistency of farming worksof the vehicles in the vehicle group may be lost and a problem due tothe deviation of working speeds may likely occur.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, the existing path r1 of thefirst slave vehicle 2500-1 may be changed to a changed path r1-1, andthe changed path r1-1 may have a change section r-1′ as compared withthe existing path r1. At this point, the change section r-1′ of thefirst slave vehicle 2500-1 may correspond to the change section R-1′ ofthe master vehicle 2600. In addition, the driving command for the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 may be reset such that the amount of the performedfarming works of the vehicles is the same between the correspondingchange sections. That is, the driving command for the first slavevehicle 2500-1 may be reset such that the amount of the performedfarming work of the master vehicle 2600 during the change section R-1′and the amount of the performed farming work of the first slave vehicle2500-1 during the change section r-1′ are the same.

In a specific embodiment, the first slave vehicle 2500-1 may reset thedriving command to stop the work or traveling of the first slave vehicle2500-1 during the change section r-1′ corresponding to the changesection R-1′ so that a delay of the farming work that occurred while themaster vehicle 2600 detours to the change section R-1′ may becompensated for.

In another example, moving speeds of the remaining slave vehicles 2500other than the master vehicle 2600 whose path has been changed may beadjusted on the basis of a position of the master vehicle 2600. Morespecifically, the driving command may be reset such that a speed of thefirst slave vehicle 2500-1 during the change section r-1′ is reduced sothat the delay of the farming work that occurred while the mastervehicle 2600 detours to the change section R-1′ may be compensated for.In the same manner, the driving command may be reset such that thesecond and third slave vehicles 2500-2 and 2500-3 stop traveling orworking or reduce speeds thereof respectively during change sectionsr2-1′ and r3-1′.

In summary, when the path of the master vehicle 2600 is changed, thedriving command for the slave vehicle 2500 may also be automaticallyreset. In addition, the reset driving command may be transmitted to thecorresponding slave vehicle 2500, and the slave vehicle 2500 may travelthe changed path according to the reset driving command. As a result,when the path of the master vehicle 2600 is changed, the driving commandfor the slave vehicle 2500 is automatically reset, thereby maintainingconsistency of the platooning and the farming work.

FIG. 29 is a view illustrating an example of a case in which a path ofthe slave vehicle is reset, according to an embodiment.

The embodiment of FIG. 29 may be an embodiment subsequent to theembodiment of FIG. 25 . Thus, the embodiment of FIG. 28 may be describedusing the reference numerals illustrated in FIG. 25 even when FIG. 25 isnot mentioned. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 29 , the vehicle groupmay include one master vehicle 2600 and three slave vehicles 2500-1,2500-2, and 2500-3. In addition, it is assumed that the master vehicle2600 is in a state of traveling an existing path R1, and the slavevehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3 are in states of traveling by adriving command based on predetermined paths r1, r2, and r3.

In the embodiment of FIG. 29 , the processor 2640 of the master vehicle2600 may determine that there is a need to change the existing path r1when there is an obstacle on the predetermined path r1 of the firstslave vehicle 2500-1, and set a changed path r1-2. At this point, theprocessor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may reset the driving commandfor the first slave vehicle 2500-1 on the basis of the changed pathr1-2.

Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 29 , even when the path of the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 is changed, the path of another vehicle may not bechanged. That is, the vehicle related to the changed path is only thefirst slave vehicle 2500-1, and thus the vehicle for which the drivingcommand is reset may also be the first slave vehicle 2500-1. In summary,when the vehicle corresponding to the changed path is the slave vehicle,the driving command for the corresponding slave vehicle may be reset,and then, it is possible to determine whether to reset the drivingcommand for the other slave vehicles, and reset the driving command forthe other slave vehicles only when it is necessary. This is because,unlike the embodiment of FIG. 28 , the change of the path of the slavevehicle 2500-1, which is not the master vehicle 2600, is less likely todamage the consistency of the farming work.

Meanwhile, since a detour occurred in the changed path r1-2 of the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 during a change section r1-2′, a work delay mayoccur in comparison with other vehicles of the vehicle group. At thispoint, the processor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may reset thedriving command to increase a traveling or working speed during acompensation section r1-2″ to compensate for the work delay during thechange section r1-2′. That is, when the path of the slave vehicle 2500is changed, instead of resetting the driving command for the othervehicles, the driving command may be reset such that the correspondingslave vehicle 2500 has a compensation section. As a result, even whenthe path of the slave vehicle 2500 is changed, the consistency ofplatooning and working may be maintained without affecting othervehicles.

FIG. 30 is a view illustrating an example in which a change in a path ofthe master vehicle causes a path of another slave vehicle to be changed,according to an embodiment.

The embodiment of FIG. 30 may be an embodiment subsequent to theembodiment of FIG. 25 . Thus, the embodiment of FIG. 30 may be describedusing the reference numerals illustrated in FIG. 25 even when FIG. 25 isnot mentioned. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 30 , the vehicle groupmay include one master vehicle 2600 and three slave vehicles 2500-1,2500-2, and 2500-3. In addition, it is assumed that the master vehicle2600 is in a state of traveling an existing path R1, and the slavevehicles 2500-1, 2500-2, and 2500-3 are in states of traveling by adriving command based on predetermined paths r1, r2, and r3.

In the embodiment of FIG. 30 , the processor 2640 of the master vehicle2600 may determine that there is a need to change the existing path R1to a changed path R1-3 when there is an obstacle on the predeterminedpath R1, and set the changed path R1-3. In addition, in an embodiment,the processor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may set the path such thatseparation distances between the vehicles are the same within apredetermined error range, and when one or more of the separationdistances between the vehicles in the vehicle group decreases below apredetermined value due to the changed path, the processor 2640 mayreset the path of the related vehicle.

In an example, cases in which the separation distance between thevehicles is reduced below the predetermined value since a detour occursin the path during a change section R1-3′ of the changed path R1-3 orthe master vehicle 2600 intrudes the path of the second slave vehicle2500-2 may be considered. That is, when the master vehicle 2600 travelsthe changed path R1-3, the possibility of collision may be increasedwhen the second slave vehicle 2500-2 travels the existing path r2 as itis. In order to prevent this situation, when the changed path R1-3 ofthe master vehicle 2600 intrudes the path of the second slave vehicle2500-2, the path of the second slave vehicle 2500-2 may also be changed

More specifically, the processor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 maychange the path of the second slave vehicle 2500-2 to r2-3 so that themaster vehicle 2600 does not collide with the second slave vehicle2500-2 even when the master vehicle 2600 travels the change sectionR1-3′. The changed path r2-3 includes a change section r2-3′, which maybe a section corresponding to the change section R1-3′ of the mastervehicle 2600. In addition, as in the embodiment of FIG. 30 , theprocessor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may set the change sectionr2-3′ to have a greater detoured spatial range than the change sectionR1-3′. This is to increase a detour distance of the slave vehicle toprevent a collision.

In another embodiment, when the changed path R1-3 of the master vehicle2600 intrudes the path of the second slave vehicle 2500-2, the processor2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may reset the driving command totemporarily stop or delay the traveling of the second slave vehicle2500-2. That is, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 30 , rather than changingthe path of the second slave vehicle 2500-2, the second slave vehicle2500-2 may decrease a speed thereof or temporarily stop so that thesecond slave vehicle 2500-2 does not collide with the master vehicle2600 while the master vehicle 2600 travels the change section R1-3′.

Next, the processor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 resets the drivingcommand for the second slave vehicle 2500-2, and then determines whetherto reset the driving command for another slave vehicle and resets thedriving command for another slave vehicle if necessary. For example,since the first slave vehicle 2500-1 is not affected by the changesection R1-3′ of the changed path R1-3 of the master vehicle 2600, theprocessor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 may set the changed path R1-3of the first slave vehicle 2500-1 not to have a detour section.Alternatively, as described in the example of FIG. 28 , the drivingcommand may be reset so that the path is maintained but the speed of thetravel or work is reduced to zero or decreased in some sections.

In addition, when a distance between the second slave vehicle 2500-2 andthe third slave vehicle 2500-3 is sufficiently large and thus the secondslave vehicle 2500-2 and the third slave vehicle 2500-3 are less likelyto collide due to the changed path r2-3 of the second slave vehicle2500-2, the driving command for a change section r3-3′ may be reset sothat the path is not changed but the speed of the travel or work isreduced to zero or decreased in the change section r3-3′.

FIG. 31 illustrates an example of platooning at a boundary line of afarming work space according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 31 , it may be seen that the master vehicle 2600 andthe first slave vehicle 2500-1 respectively travel to changed paths R1-4and r1-4 near the boundary line of the farming work space. That is, inthe embodiment of FIG. 31 , the boundary line of the farming work spacemay be an obstacle on the path. In an embodiment, when the obstacle isrelated to the boundary line of the work space, the changed paths R1-4and r1-4 may be paths in which return information for other vehicles inthe vehicle group is considered.

In a specific embodiment, when the master vehicle 2600 and the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 of FIG. 31 are traveling at the same speed, themaster vehicle having a longer driving distance to the boundary than thefirst slave vehicle 2500-1 is highly likely to lag behind the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 after turning around near the boundary. Tocompensate for this, the processor 2640 of the master vehicle 2600 mayset the changed path r1-4 of the first slave vehicle 2500-1, but mayreset the driving command for the first slave vehicle 2500-1 such thatthe traveling or working of the first slave vehicle 2500-1 is stopped ordelayed in some sections of the changed path r1-4 so that the firstslave vehicle 2500-1 matches the traveling and working speeds of themaster vehicle 2600.

FIG. 32 illustrates an example of a case in which an attribute ofplatooning is a series work according to an embodiment.

While an attribute of platooning in FIG. 25 is a parallel work, FIG. 32is a view illustrating an example in which an attribute of platooning isa series work. That is, in the example of FIG. 32 , the vehicles in thevehicle group may be arranged in series and perform farming works. Atthis point, the master vehicle 2600 is positioned first in the seriesarrangement, and the first slave vehicle 2500-1 and the second slavevehicle 2500-2 perform farming works while following the master vehicle2600. According to an embodiment, when an attribute of platooning of thevehicles in the vehicle group is a series work, a farming work of theslave vehicle 2500 may be a subsequent work of a farming work of themaster vehicle 2600. For example, when the work machine of the mastervehicle 2600 is a baler to collect and compress hay to generate a bale,the slave vehicle 2500 may be a bale collection vehicle.

In the embodiment in which the travelling attribute is a series work asshown in FIG. 32 , when a path of the master vehicle 2600 is reset,paths of the one or more slave vehicles 2500 may be reset in the samemanner. That is, when an obstacle exists on the existing path of themaster vehicle 2600 and a changed path R1-5 is set to include a changesection R1-5′, the processor 2640 may change the paths of the followingslave vehicles 2500 to have change sections corresponding to the changesection R1-5′ and reset the driving command.

That is, in the case of the series arrangement, since the slave vehicle2500 following the master vehicle 2600 may highly likely encounter thesame obstacle, the driving command may be automatically reset so thatthe slave vehicle 2500 also has the same change section as the changesection R1-5′. As a result, the paths of the vehicles of the vehiclegroup, which are arranged in series, may be efficiently changed.

FIG. 33 is a flowchart illustrating a platooning method according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 33 , communication connection with one or more slavevehicles is performed (3310).

Next, each of paths corresponding to the vehicles included in thevehicle group is set, and a driving command set on the basis of the pathis transmitted to the one or more slave vehicles (3320).

Next, it is determined that a change is required in at least one path ofthe paths corresponding to the vehicles, and the path is changed (3330).

Next, the driving command for the vehicle related to the changed pathamong the vehicles is reset (3340).

FIGS. 34A to 34B are views for describing a method of recommending farmproducts using farmland evaluation data according to an embodiment.

A communication network may be formed between a farm vehicle 10, aserver 20, and an external device 300.

The server 20 may receive farmland evaluation data for a predeterminedfarmland from the farm vehicle 10 and determine farmland characteristicson the basis of the received farmland evaluation data. In addition, theserver 20 may recommend farm products suitable for the predeterminedfarmland to the external device 300 on the basis of the determinedfarmland characteristics.

Various pieces of data may be generated according to the driving andfarming work of the farm vehicle 10. At least some pieces of thegenerated data may be the farmland evaluation data that may be used toevaluate the predetermined farmland in which the farm vehicle 10 isdriven or the farming work is performed.

In an embodiment, the farmland evaluation data may include driving dataof the farm vehicle 10. The driving data may include at least one ofpieces of accident-related data, failure-related data, andtraveling-related data of the farm vehicle 10.

In addition, farming-work-performing data of the farm vehicle 10 may beincluded in the farmland evaluation data. The farming-work-performingdata may include at least one of pieces of farm equipment-related data,farm product-related data, and farmland-related data.

Meanwhile, the driving data and the farming-work-performing dataincluded in the farmland evaluation data are not limited to the aboveexamples.

In an embodiment, referring to FIG. 34A, the server 20 may receive thefarmland evaluation data from the farm vehicle 10.

In another embodiment, referring to FIG. 34B, the external device 300may receive the farmland evaluation data from the farm vehicle 10, andthe server 20 may receive the farmland evaluation data from the externaldevice 300. That is, the server 20 may receive the farmland evaluationdata through the external device 300 instead of directly receiving thefarmland evaluation data from the farm vehicle 10.

The server 20 may determine the farmland characteristics on the basis ofthe farmland evaluation data. As long as characteristics may be used torecommend farm products suitable for the predetermined farmland, thecharacteristics may be included without limitation in the farmlandcharacteristics. The farmland characteristics may include physicalcharacteristics, chemical characteristics, and biologicalcharacteristics.

The server 20 may determine at least one of elements included in thephysical characteristics, the chemical characteristics, and thebiological characteristics for the predetermined farmland on the basisof at least one of pieces of the accident-related data, thefailure-related data, and the traveling-related data of the farm vehicle10. In addition, the server 20 may determine at least one of thephysical characteristics, the chemical characteristics, and thebiological characteristics for the predetermined farmland on the basisof at least one of pieces of the farm equipment-related data, the farmproduct-related data, and the farmland-related data.

The server 20 may recommend farm products suitable for the predeterminedfarmland to the external device 300 on the basis of the determinedfarmland characteristics.

Depending on the physical characteristics, the chemical characteristics,and the biological characteristics of the predetermined farmland, farmproduct types suitable for cultivation may be determined. The server 20may recommend farm products suitable for the predetermined farmland onthe basis of the farmland characteristics determined in the mannerdescribed above.

Meanwhile, in FIGS. 34A to 34B, a method in which the server 20determines farm products suitable for farmland characteristics andrecommends the determined farm products to the external device 300 hasbeen described, but the external device 300 may receive farmlandevaluation data from the farm vehicle 10, determine farmlandcharacteristics on the basis of the received farmland evaluation data,and recommend farm products suitable for a predetermined farmland to auser of the external device 300 on the basis of the farmlandcharacteristics. In addition, the external device 300 may also bemounted on the farm vehicle 10.

FIG. 35 is a diagram for describing pieces of data used to recommendfarm products, according to an embodiment.

Farmland evaluation data 3510 may include vehicle driving data 3511 ofthe farm vehicle 10. The vehicle driving data 3511 may include at leastone of pieces of accident-related data, failure-related data, andtraveling-related data of the farm vehicle 10.

For example, the accident-related data may include at least one of anaccident occurrence position, an accident occurrence time, an accidentoccurrence cause, and an accident occurrence result. The accidentoccurrence position may include GPS coordinates of a point at which anaccident of the farm vehicle 10 occurs, and the accident occurrence timemay include a season, a month, a day, a day of the week, a time, aminute, and the like when an accident of the farm vehicle 10 occurs. Inaddition, the failure-related data may include at least one of a failurepart, a failure frequency, and a degree of a failure. In addition, thetraveling-related data may include at least one of a deformation amountof a tire tread of the farm vehicle 10, an engine torque ratio, anengine load ratio, an engine RPM, an engine operation hour, anaccumulated fuel consumption amount, a fuel efficiency, an engine oiltemperature, an engine room temperature, a cooling water temperature, acurrent gear-shifting stage, a mission oil temperature, a travelingdistance, and a traveling time.

The farmland evaluation data 3510 may include farming-work-performingdata 3512 of the farm vehicle 10. The farming-work-performing data 3512may include at least one of pieces of farm equipment-related data, farmproduct-related data, and farmland-related data.

For example, the farm equipment-related data may include at least one ofpieces of data about specification of farm equipment used to performfarming works, failure-related data, data about load applied to the farmequipment, and data about power of the farm equipment. In addition, thefarm product-related data may include at least one of the type of a farmproduct, a farm product name, a farm product origin, a cultivationmethod, a cultivation environment, and quality characteristics, whichare utilized to perform farming works. In addition, the farmland-relateddata may include at least one of an area of the farmland on whichfarming works are performed, land information, the strength of theground (hard, normal, soft), and the amount of sunshine.

The server 20 may determine farmland characteristics 3520 on the basisof the farmland evaluation data. The farmland characteristics 3520 mayinclude physical characteristics, chemical characteristics, andbiological characteristics. For example, the physical characteristicsmay include soil characteristics, a water holding capacity, a drainagecapacity, soil voids, volume specific gravity, temperature (variancerange), and the like. In addition, the chemical characteristics mayinclude an organic material content, a carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio,an allelopathic material, pH, fertility, an inorganic nitrogen form, andthe like. In addition, the biological characteristics may include soilmicroorganisms, a nitrification action, and the like.

The farmland characteristics 3520 may be determined from the farmlandevaluation data 3510. In order to determine the farmland characteristics3520, the accident-related data, the failure-related data, and thetraveling-related data of the farm vehicle 10 may be used as the vehicledriving data 3511, and the farm equipment-related data, the farmproduct-related data, and the farmland-related data may be used as thefarming-work-performing data 3512, or combinations thereof may be used.

For example, the server 20 may determine at least one of elementsincluded in the physical characteristics, the chemical characteristics,and the biological characteristics for the predetermined farmland on thebasis of at least one of the accident occurrence position, the accidentoccurrence time, the accident occurrence cause, and the accidentoccurrence result. For example, the server 20 may use the accidentoccurrence position of the farm vehicle 10 to determine that there is alot of sand and gravel, an organic material content is high, or pH andfertility are low in soil of the farmland at the corresponding position.

Further, the server 20 may determine at least one of elements includedin the physical characteristics, the chemical characteristics, and thebiological characteristics for the predetermined farmland on the basisof at least one of the failure part, the failure frequency, the degreeof the failure of the farm vehicle 10. For example, when the failurefrequency of the farm vehicle 10 is greater than or equal to a thresholdvalue, the server 20 may determine that there is a lot of sand andgravel, the organic material content is high, or the pH and fertilityare low in the soil of the farmland at the corresponding position.

Further, the server 20 may determine at least one of elements includedin the physical characteristics, the chemical characteristics, and thebiological characteristics for the predetermined farmland on the basisof the engine torque ratio, the engine load ratio, the engine RPM, theengine operation hour, the accumulated fuel consumption amount, the fuelefficiency, the engine oil temperature, the engine room temperature, thecooling water temperature, the current gear-shifting stage, the missionoil temperature, the traveling distance, and the traveling time as thetraveling-related data of the farm vehicle 10. For example, when theengine RPM of the farm vehicle 10 continues to be above a referencevalue or the engine torque ratio is high, the server 20 may determinethat there is a lot of sand and gravel, the organic material content ishigh, or the pH and fertility are low in the soil of the farmland at thecorresponding position.

In addition, in a case in which grains are cultivated using farmequipment for cultivating grains because the amount of sunlight on apredetermined farmland is suitable for cultivating grains, but anequipment failure frequency is greater than or equal to a thresholdvalue, the server 20 may determine that the predetermined farmland hassoil characteristics, water holding capacity, an organic materialcontent, and pH characteristics that are not suitable for cultivatinggrains.

Meanwhile, an additional sensor or mechanism may be attached to at leasta part of the farm vehicle 10 in order to determine the farmlandcharacteristics from the farmland evaluation data. For example, a pHsensor may be further attached to the farm vehicle 10 to determine pH,which is one of chemical characteristics of farmland, and a biosensorfor identifying soil microorganisms, which is one of biologicalcharacteristics of farmland, may be further attached to the farm vehicle10.

The sensor or mechanism that may be attached to the farm vehicle 10 isnot limited to the examples described above, and may be included withoutlimitation as long as it is for determining the physicalcharacteristics, the chemical characteristics, and the biologicalcharacteristics of the farmland.

The server 20 may perform a recommendation 3530 of farm products thatare suitable for the predetermined farmland on the basis of thedetermined farmland characteristics.

The types of the farm products may include grains, beans, legumes,vegetables, fruits, seeds, special crops, medicinal crops, monopolycrops, flowers, mushrooms, and the like. The grains may include wheat,rice, corn, barley, proso, millet, sorghum, and the like. The beans mayinclude beans, red beans, mung beans, and the like. The legumes mayinclude potatoes, sweet potatoes, and the like. The vegetables mayinclude Chinese cabbage, spinach, water parsley, and the like. Thefruits may include apples, peaches, grapes, and the like. The seeds mayinclude persimmons, tangerines, walnuts, and the like. The special cropsmay include canola, sesame, peanut, and the like. The medicinal cropsmay include boxthorn, angelica, milk vetch root, Omija, and the like.The monopoly crops may include tobacco, ginseng, and the like. Theflowers may include chrysanthemums, roses, lilies, and the like. Themushrooms may include button mushroom, black mushroom, oyster mushroom,shiitake mushroom, and the like.

FIG. 36 is a diagram for describing a method of recommending a finalfarm product on the basis of farmland evaluation data for each periodaccording to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 36 , the server 20 may receive farmland evaluationdata 3610 for each period for a predetermined farmland from the farmvehicle 10, and perform a determination 3620 of farmland characteristicsfor each period on the basis of the received farmland evaluation data.In addition, the server 20 may determine candidate farm products 3630for each period suitable for the predetermined farmland on the basis ofthe determined farmland characteristics for each determined period. Inaddition, the server 20 may perform a recommendation 3640 of the finalfarm product in consideration of obstacles to repeated cultivation andincome per unit area of the candidate farm products.

The server 20 may receive the farmland evaluation data 3610 for eachperiod for the predetermined farmland from the farm vehicle 10. Theperiod may be set in units such as season, half year, quarter, a month.

In an embodiment, the farmland evaluation data may include driving dataof the farm vehicle 10. The driving data may include at least one ofpieces of accident-related data, failure-related data, andtraveling-related data of the farm vehicle 10. In addition,farming-work-performing data of the farm vehicle 10 may be included inthe farmland evaluation data. The farming-work-performing data mayinclude at least one of pieces of farm equipment-related data, farmproduct-related data, and farmland-related data.

The server 20 may perform the determination 3620 of the farmlandcharacteristics for each period on the basis of the farmland evaluationdata for each period.

Even in the same farmland, the farmland characteristics for each periodmay be different. For example, in the case of farmland in a region inwhich seasonal changes are distinct, at least one of physicalcharacteristics, chemical characteristics, and biologicalcharacteristics of the corresponding farmland may vary by season,quarter, or month.

The server 20 may determine the candidate farm products 3630 for eachperiod suitable for the predetermined farmland on the basis of thedetermined farmland characteristics for each period.

Since the farmland characteristics for each period may be different evenin the same farmland, the server 20 may determine the candidate farmproducts suitable for the predetermined farmland for each period. Forexample, the server 20 may determine A farm product, B farm product, andC farm product as candidate farm products in the predetermined farmlandsuitable for summer, and may determine D farm product, E farm product,and F farm product as candidate farm products in the predeterminedfarmland suitable for winter.

The server 20 may perform the recommendation 3640 of the final farmproduct in consideration of at least one of the obstacles to repeatedcultivation and the income per unit area of the candidate farm products.

There are various factors that cause obstacles to repeated cultivation,for example, when the same farm product is planted on a specificfarmland, only nutrients needed by the corresponding farm product arecontinuously consumed from soil's manure, and, the farm product maybecome vulnerable to disease and pests because the disease and pests,which are attracted to the corresponding farm product, attack the farmproduct. The soil disease includes soft rot (Chinese cabbage orcabbage), Phytophthora (cucumber or red pepper), verticillium wilt(tomato or red pepper), and the like.

Accordingly, the server 20 may recommend the final farm product inconsideration of the obstacles to repeated cultivation of the candidatefarm products.

In order to remove the obstacles to repeated cultivation, a farm productthat require more manure and a farm product that require less manure maybe cultivated alternately. For example, in a situation in which A farmproduct, B farm product, and C farm product are determined as candidatefarm products in the predetermined farmland suitable for summer, and Dfarm product, E farm product and F farm product are determined ascandidate farm products in the predetermined farmland suitable forwinter, the server 20 may recommend A farm product requiring a largeamount of manure and D farm product requiring a small amount of manureas final farm products suitable for cultivation in summer and winter,respectively.

In addition, the server 20 may recommend the final farm product inconsideration of the income per unit area of the candidate farmproducts. For example, in a situation in which A farm product, B farmproduct, and C farm product are determined as candidate farm products inthe predetermined farmland suitable for summer, and D farm product, Efarm product and F farm product are determined as candidate farmproducts in the predetermined farmland suitable for winter, the server20 may recommend A farm product and E farm product, which have thehighest income per unit area, as final farm products suitable forcultivation in summer and winter, respectively.

In addition, the server 20 may perform recommend the final farm productin consideration of both the obstacles to repeated cultivation and theincome per unit area of the candidate farm products. For example, theserver 20 may firstly recommend A farm product and B farm productrequiring a large amount of manure as the farm products suitable forcultivation in winter and recommend D farm product requiring a smallamount of manure as the farm products suitable for cultivation insummer, and may secondarily recommend A farm product and D farm product,which have the largest income per unit area, as final farm productssuitable for cultivation in summer and winter, respectively.

FIG. 37 is a flowchart illustrating a method of recommending farmproducts suitable for farmland characteristics according to anembodiment.

The method of recommending farm products suitable for farmlandcharacteristics illustrated in FIG. 37 relates to the embodimentsdescribed above with reference to the drawings, and thus, althoughcontents are omitted below, the contents described in the above drawingsmay also be applied to the method of FIG. 37 .

Referring to FIG. 37 , in operation 3710, the processor may receivefarmland evaluation data for a predetermined farmland from the farmvehicle.

In an embodiment, the processor may receive driving data of the farmvehicle as the farmland evaluation data. The driving data may include atleast one of pieces of accident-related data, failure-related data, andtraveling-related data of the farm vehicle.

In addition, the processor may receive farming-work-performing data ofthe farm vehicle as the farmland evaluation data. Thefarming-work-performing data may include at least one of pieces of farmequipment-related data, farm product-related data, and farmland-relateddata.

In operation 3720, the processor may determine farmland characteristicson the basis of the farmland evaluation data.

In an embodiment, the processor may determine the farmlandcharacteristics on the basis of the driving data.

In addition, the processor may determine the farmland characteristics onthe basis of the farming-work-performing data.

The farmland characteristics may include at least one of physicalcharacteristics, chemical characteristics, and biologicalcharacteristics.

In operation 3730, the processor may recommend farm products suitablefor the predetermined farmland on the basis of the farmlandcharacteristics.

FIG. 38 is a block diagram of a farmland recommendation server accordingto an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 38 , a farmland recommendation server 3800 may includea processor 3810, a communication unit 3820, and a memory 3830. Onlycomponents related to the embodiment are illustrated in the farmlandrecommendation server 3800 of FIG. 38 . Accordingly, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other general componentsmay be further included in addition to the components illustrated inFIG. 38 .

The communication unit 3820 may include one or more components thatenable wired/wireless communication with an external server or anexternal device. For example, the communication unit 3820 may include atleast one of a short-range communication unit (not shown), a mobilecommunication unit (not shown), and a broadcast receiving unit (notshown).

The memory 3830 is hardware for storing various pieces of data processedin the farmland recommendation server 3800, and may store programs forprocessing and control operations of the processor 3810. The memory 3830may store payment information, user information, and the like.

The memory 3830 may include random access memory (RAM) such as dynamicrandom access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), or thelike, read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), Blu-ray or otheroptical disk storage, hard disk drive (HDD), solid state drive (SSD), orflash memory.

The processor 3810 controls overall operations of the farmlandrecommendation server 3800. For example, the processor 3810 maygenerally control an input unit (not shown), a display (not shown), thecommunication unit 3820, the memory 3830, and the like by executing theprograms stored in the memory 3830. The processor 3810 may control theoperations of the farmland recommendation server 3800 by executing theprograms stored in the memory 3830.

The processor 3810 may control at least some of the operations of thefarmland recommendation server 3800 described above with reference toFIGS. 1 to 37 .

The processor 3810 may be implemented using at least one of applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs),digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices(PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers,micro-controllers, microprocessors, and other electrical units forperforming functions.

FIG. 39 illustrates an example of a dashboard of a farm vehicleaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 39 , a dashboard 3900 of the farm vehicle may includea speed display unit 3910, an engine RPM display unit 3920, and adisplay 3930. In addition, although not directly illustrated in FIG. 39, various warning lights indicating states of the farm vehicle, such asa remaining fuel amount and engine warning light, a tire pressurewarning light, a brake pad damage warning light, a low battery warninglight, and the like, may be displayed.

The display 3930 of the dashboard 3900 is a display device positioned inthe dashboard. In an embodiment, the display 3930 may be a liquidcrystal display (LCD), but the present disclosure is not necessarilylimited thereto, and all types of display devices are applicable to thedisplay 3930 without limitation. In addition, the display 3930 maydisplay all states related to a farm vehicle. In particular, the display3930 may display information related to a driving mode of the farmvehicle.

As described above, the processor 160 of the farm vehicle may controlautonomous driving of the farm vehicle, and may determine whether thecurrent driving mode of the farm vehicle is an autonomous driving modeor a manual driving mode. Since the driving mode is importantinformation that necessarily needs to be notified to a passenger of thefarm vehicle, the processor 160 may display a phrase, which indicatesthe current mode, on the display 3930 of the dashboard 3900 of the farmvehicle.

According to an embodiment, when the driving mode of the farm vehicle isan autonomous driving mode, the processor 160 may determine whether anemergency situation corresponding to the farm vehicle is generated for afirst cycle.

Here, the emergency situation may mean a situation in which the farmvehicle may not perform the autonomous driving normally, or a situationin which the autonomous driving may harm the farm vehicle itself, a farmproduct itself, or the passenger when the autonomous driving isperformed. Whether the emergency situation occurs may be determined by adetermination criterion defined by the processor 160.

FIG. 40 illustrates an example of a dashboard of the farm vehicleaccording to another embodiment of the disclosure.

In the embodiment of FIG. 40 , it is exemplified that, when theprocessor 160 determines that an emergency situation has occurred, theprocessor 160 switches a driving mode of the farm vehicle to a manualdriving mode, and then displays a phrase, which indicates that theemergency situation has occurred and the driving mode is switched to themanual driving mode, on the dashboard 3900. Accordingly, even when apassenger of the vehicle does not directly detect the emergencysituation, the passenger may see the display 3930 of the dashboard 3900and confirm that the emergency situation has occurred and the drivingmode of the farm vehicle is switched to the manual driving mode.

Meanwhile, the processor 160 may first receive sensing data from one ormore sensors of the farm vehicle to determine whether the emergencysituation occurs. According to an embodiment, the processor 160 mayreceive the sensing data directly from the sensor, but may receive thesensing data from an electric control unit (ECU) of the farm vehicle,which is connected to the sensor. In an embodiment, the ECU may receivepieces of data from various sensors of the vehicle and performcomputation on the data to control actuator devices such as a piston, anigniter, and the like, and may derive stable output and fuel efficiencyoptimized for a driving situation. The ECU of the farm vehicle referredto herein may be a domain ECU of various devices, but may be anindividual ECU present for each device in the vehicle. In particular,since the farm vehicle is equipped with a controller for cultivation asdescribed above, the processor 160 may receive sensing data from an ECUexisting in a device related to an operation of a cultivator.

In a specific example, an engine ECU may be connected to an air flowsensor (AFS), an air temperature sensor (ATS), a water temperaturesensor (WTS), a throttle position sensor (TPS), or the like to receive asensed value from each sensor, and the processor 160 may receive sensingdata of each sensor through the engine ECU. That is, the processor 160may be directly connected to the individual sensors, but may beconnected to the sensors through the ECU to receive the sensing data.

In another example, the farm vehicle may be equipped with varioussensors for performing autonomous driving. For example, the farm vehiclemay be equipped with sensors such as LiDARs configured to performfunctions of monitoring blind spots, reporting lane changes, controllingautomatic cruising, and the like, cameras configured to performfunctions of detecting lanes, monitoring surrounding areas, identifyingpassenger's states, and the like, and lasers configured to performfunctions of detecting obstacles, securing night vision, controllinglighting, and the like. The processor 160 may receive pieces of sensingdata from these sensors.

Next, the processor 160 may use the received sensing data to compare thesensing data with a determination criterion corresponding to each of theone or more sensors, and when the determination criterion is satisfied,the processor 160 may determine that an emergency situation hasoccurred. As described above, the farm vehicle may be equipped with aplurality of sensors. Since pieces of data sensed by each of theplurality of sensors are different from each other, the determinationcriterion for determining an emergency situation may also be differentfor each of the plurality of sensors.

In an example, when an suctioned air amount sensed by the AFS is greaterthan a predetermined value, the processor 160 may determine that anemergency situation has occurred in the farm vehicle. In anotherexample, the processor 160 may determine that an emergency situation hasoccurred in the farm vehicle when a distance between the farm vehicleand a front object, which is sensed by the LiDAR of the farm vehicle, isless than or equal to a predetermined value.

In addition, when the processor 160 determines that an emergencysituation has occurred because the determination criterion is satisfied,the processor 160 may determine the type of the emergency situation.More specifically, the processor 160 may determine whether the generatedemergency situation is a first emergency situation related to the farmvehicle itself or a second emergency situation related to theenvironment outside the farm vehicle. As a result, it is possible tospecify the determination criterion for each sensor and efficientlyrespond to emergency situations by classifying the types of theemergency situations.

More specifically, the first emergency situation related to the farmvehicle itself may be referred to a case in which there is anabnormality in each device provided in the farm vehicle and detected bythe processor 160. In an example, the processor 160 may determine thatan emergency situation has occurred when there is no response from somedevices in the vehicle. At this point, the processor 160 may determinethat an emergency situation has occurred by dividing devices intorequired devices in which an emergency situation is determined to occurwhen there is no response therefrom, and optional devices in which onlya warning light or display guidance is provided when there is noresponse therefrom.

In another example, when determining whether the first emergencysituation occurs, the processor 160 may compare pieces of sensing dataof the plurality of sensors with each other, and when the comparisonresult does not meet the determination criterion, the processor 160 maydetermine that an emergency situation has occurred. In this regard, thefirst emergency situation may be related to the problem inside thevehicle and may be an error related to the control of a steering device,an acceleration device, and a deceleration device of the vehicle, andsuch an error may cause a serious malfunction of the vehicle, so thatthe processor 160 may determine the emergency situation by using aplurality of pieces of sensing data.

More specifically, the processor 160 may compare sensing data of asensor, which is related to a control command of each device, withsensing data of a sensor, which is related to an operation of thecontrolled device. When it is determined that the control command andthe operation of the controlled device do not match by comparing thepieces of sensing data, the processor 160 may determine that the firstemergency situation has occurred. In a specific example, the processor160 may compare sensing data of a brake pedal sensor related to acontrol command of the deceleration device with sensing data of a wheelspeed sensor related to an operation of the actual deceleration deviceto detect that abnormality has occurred in the deceleration device anddetermine an emergency situation.

Meanwhile, the second emergency situation related to the environmentoutside the farm vehicle may be a situation in which it is not relatedto the farm vehicle itself, but the autonomous driving of the farmvehicle should be stopped to prevent damage to farm products, thevehicle, or a passenger on the basis of the pieces of sensing datareceived by the processor 160 from each of the sensors. For example, thesecond emergency situation may be a situation in which an obstacleappears in front or behind the farm vehicle, or a work may not beperformed because soil quality is not suitable for the work, or a farmproduct that does not match the current work setting may be detected.Since the farm vehicle is a vehicle that performs an autonomouscultivation in addition to a general autonomous driving vehicle, a casein which the vehicle needs to be confirmed by the user or to be stoppedin relation to cultivation may also be determined as the secondemergency situation.

Subsequently, the processor 160 may determine whether the emergencysituation has been resolved in the manual driving mode for a secondcycle. Whether the emergency situation has been resolved may bedetermined by detecting whether the determination criterion is notsatisfied for the second cycle. For example, when it is determined thatthere is an obstacle in front of the camera on the basis of the sensingdata of the camera, and the driving mode is switched to the manualdriving mode, and when it is determined that there is no obstacle infront of the camera by obtaining and determining the sensing data of thecamera for the second cycle, it may be determined that the emergencysituation has been resolved.

In an embodiment, the second cycle may be longer than the first cycle.The first cycle is related to whether an emergency situation occurs, andthe second cycle is related to whether the emergency situation isresolved. Thus, in order to reduce the risk of the autonomous drivingconnected to the emergency situation, the processor 160 may set thefirst cycle, during which whether an emergency situation has occurred isdetermined in the autonomous driving, to be longer than the second cycleduring which whether the emergency situation has been resolved isdetermined in the manual driving. Accordingly, it is possible to morefrequently check whether an emergency situation has occurred whileoperating in the autonomous driving mode.

Meanwhile, in an embodiment, in determining whether the emergencysituation has been resolved, when the processor 160 determines that thedetermination criterion is not satisfied for the second cycle, theprocessor 160 may determine that the emergency situation has beenresolved only when a security check is passed after performing thesecurity check on a network connected between the processor 160 in thevehicle and the device or between the sensors. In the emergencysituation, there is a problem related to the vehicle or externalsituations, and such a problem may occur even when the network in thevehicle is hacked. Thus, in determining whether the emergency situationhas been resolved, it is possible to determine that the emergencysituation has been resolved after performing the security check on thenetwork. Accordingly, through the security check, in addition to theemergency situation generated due to the problem of the farm vehicleitself or the problem of an external situation, it is possible toaccurately determine whether an emergency situation caused by hackinghas been resolved.

Meanwhile, since the type of the network in the vehicle may be differentfor each device in the vehicle, the processor 160 may perform differentsecurity checks according to the type of the network.

FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example of determining that anemergency situation has been resolved for each network, according to anembodiment.

In an embodiment, the processor 4100 may perform different securitychecks according to the type of the network when determining whether theemergency situation has been resolved, and determine that the emergencysituation has been resolved only when the security check correspondingto the type of the network has passed. When the processor 4100 in thevehicle communicates with a plurality of devices in the vehicle,different networks may be used depending on characteristics of thedevices. More specifically, the processor 4100 communicates with thedevices in the vehicle through a controller 4120, and networks 4110 and4140 through which the controller 4120 is connected to each device maybe different depending on the characteristics of each device. In thiscase, the different networks may include a first network 4110 and asecond network 4140, but the present disclosure is not necessarilylimited thereto, and a plurality of different types of networks may beadded.

According to an embodiment, the first network 4110 may be a CAN. In theembodiment of FIG. 41 , the first network 4110 may be connected to anECU 4111 of each of a steering device 4112, an acceleration device 4113,and a deceleration device 4114. The CAN network is a network thatoperates by connecting several ECUs to a CAN bus and may be used tocommunicate with traditional vehicle devices such as a steering device,an acceleration device, and a deceleration device. In addition, althoughnot illustrated in FIG. 41 , the first network 4110 may transmit piecesof sensing data of various sensors included in the steering device 4112,the acceleration device 4113, and the deceleration device 4114 to theprocessor 4100.

Further, according to an embodiment, the second network 4140 may be awired or wireless network in the vehicle. In this case, thewired/wireless network in the vehicle, which may become a secondnetwork, is a data communication network in a comprehensive sense thatenables the devices or the devices and the processor to smoothlycommunicate with each other, and may include a wired Internet, awireless Internet, and a mobile wireless communication network. In theembodiment of FIG. 41 , the devices in the vehicle, which are connectedto the second network 4140, may be a sensor, such as a camera 4141, aLiDAR 4142, a laser 4143, and an ultrasonic detector 4144. That is, thesecond network may be a network provided for communicating with a devicethat is further necessary for autonomous driving rather than atraditional device in the vehicle.

Since the first network 4110 and the second network 4140 are differentnetworks, the processor 4100 may perform a security check correspondingto the type of the network to which the sensor is connected, anddetermine that the emergency situation has been resolved only when thesecurity check is passed.

For example, in the case of the first network 4110, such as a CANnetwork, since all devices are connected through a CAN BUS network, whena network attack, such as causing a bus OFF state, occurs, the networkattack may seriously affect the vehicle and the user. Accordingly, thesecurity check corresponding to the first network 4110 may be performedmore strictly than a security check of a general-purpose network.Accordingly, the processor 4100 of the present disclosure may determinewhether there is a defect in the first network 4110 using a securitycheck suitable for the first network 4110.

As another example, in the case of the second network 4140, the secondnetwork 4140 may be a general-purpose wired/wireless network, and thusthe processor 4100 of the present disclosure may perform a securitycheck suitable for the second network 4140 using security technology ofa general-purpose network. Thus, by performing different security checksfor each network connected to the sensors in the vehicle, the processor4100 may determine whether the emergency situation has been resolved ina state in which the accuracy of the security check is increased andsecurity is verified.

Subsequently, the processor 4100 may change the driving mode of the farmvehicle to the autonomous driving mode when the emergency situation hasbeen resolved. That is, the farm vehicle according to an embodiment mayoperate in the autonomous driving mode by automatically determiningwhether the emergency situation is automatically resolved even theemergency situation occurs during the autonomous driving mode and thusthe driving mode is changed to the manual driving mode.

In general, in order for the autonomous driving vehicle to be set to theautonomous driving mode, a separate input is required by the user ridingon the vehicle. However, in this case, there is a risk that the drivingmode may enter the autonomous driving mode according to the user'sarbitrary determination even in a situation in which the autonomousdriving is not suitable, and in the opposite case, even in a situationin which the autonomous driving is possible, there is a case in whichthe user does not recognize the situation and continues to drivemanually. However, in the present disclosure, when the autonomousdriving mode is switched to the manual driving mode due to an emergencysituation, whether the emergency situation has been resolved isautomatically detected, and the manual driving mode automaticallyreturns to the autonomous driving mode. As a result, the driving mode ofthe farm vehicle may be automatically switched to the autonomous drivingmode even when the user does not determine whether the emergencysituation has been resolved.

FIG. 42 is a view illustrating an example of providing an emergencysituation alarm to a user terminal according to an embodiment.

When there is not user who rides on the vehicle, the processor 160 mayprovide an alarm indicating that an emergency situation has occurred tothe user terminal 300. Since the farm vehicle 10 is an autonomousdriving vehicle, even when there is not user riding on the vehicle, thefarm vehicle 10 may be autonomously driven and may perform cultivationautonomously. However, when the driving mode is switched to the manualdriving mode due to an emergency situation, the user who does not rideon the vehicle is difficult to recognize the emergency situation.Accordingly, the processor 160 may provide an alarm 310 of the samecontent as the display 3930 of the dashboard 3900 to the user terminal300. Thus, the user may recognize that the driving mode is changedbecause an emergency situation has occurred even in a situation in whichthe user does not directly drive the farm vehicle.

FIG. 43 is a view illustrating an example of providing an emergencysituation resolution alarm to the user terminal according to anembodiment.

When there is no user who rides on the vehicle, the processor 160 mayprovide an alarm indicating that the emergency situation has beenresolved to the user terminal 300. In the example of FIG. 42 , althoughthe alarm indicating that an emergency situation has occurred isprovided to the user, the user may not ride on the farm vehicle. Whenthe emergency situation of the farm vehicle is resolved as a period oftime has passed in a state in which the user does not ride on thevehicle, the driving mode of the farm vehicle may be switched toautonomous driving mode, as described above. In this case, the processor160 may provide an alarm indicating that the emergency situation hasbeen resolved and the driving mode is changed to the autonomous drivingmode to the user terminal 300. As a result, the driving mode may bechanged to the autonomous driving mode without the user, and the usermay be informed that the emergency situation has been resolved and theuser does not need to ride on the vehicle.

FIG. 44 illustrates an example of cases that may occur for eachemergency situation according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 44 , according to an embodiment, there are a pluralityof cases for determining an operation of a work machine for autonomouscultivation, depending on whether the vehicle is in acultivation/non-cultivation state, whether an emergency situation is afirst emergency situation/second emergency situation, and operations tobe performed when the emergency situation is resolved.

More specifically, when an emergency situation occurs, a process may bechanged depending on whether the farm vehicle is currently in thecultivation state or the non-cultivation state.

In addition, according to an embodiment, when determining whether aspecific emergency situation occurs, an alarm related to the occurrenceof the emergency situation is displayed, and whether the emergencysituation occurs is determined by receiving whether the user hasconfirmed the emergency situation. Specifically, when an emergencysituation is determined as the second emergency situation related to theexternal environment of the farm vehicle, it is possible to determinethat the emergency situation has occurred only when the user confirmsthat the emergency situation has occurred. As described above, in thecase of the second emergency situation related to the environmentoutside the vehicle, seriousness may be lower than in the firstemergency situation related to the defect of the vehicle itself.Accordingly, when the first emergency situation such as the appearanceof an obstacle occurs, rather than immediately determining theoccurrence of the emergency situation, the emergency situation may bedetermined to occur by receiving the confirmation of the user for thealarm, and the driving mode may be changed to the autonomous drivingmode.

In addition, according to an embodiment, after determining that theemergency situation has been resolved, the driving mode of the vehiclemay be switched to the autonomous driving mode, as described above. Inaddition, since the operation of the work machine is also automaticallystopped when the emergency situation occurs in the cultivation state,the operation of the work machine may also be resumed while beingswitched to the autonomous driving mode. At this point, in the case ofthe first emergency situation, it is possible to receive a confirmationfrom the user whether to resume the operation of the work machine anddetermine to operate the work machine only when there is theconfirmation of the user. This is because it is highly likely that thevehicle itself has a defect in the case of the first emergency situationand thus a risk may be reduced by resuming the operation after receivingthe confirmation from the user rather than automatically resuming theoperation of the work machine.

FIG. 45 illustrates an example of a situation in which a farm vehicleperforms autonomous driving in a cultivation area according to anembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 45 , a farm vehicle 100 may include a front wheel 114and a rear wheel 112. There may be one or more farm product areas 4500in the cultivation area in which the farm vehicle 100 performscultivation. In this case, the farm product area 4500 may be an area inwhich it is determined that one or more farm products are planted andmay be sensed by a camera in the vehicle. In general, as shown in FIG.45 , the farm product areas 4500 may alternately present with a specificwidth and a specific separation distance. In this case, the farm vehicle100 may perform cultivation without damaging farm products only when thewheels 112 and 114 are positioned in areas, in which there are no farmproducts, between the farm product areas 4500. In addition, thecultivation may be performed efficiently only when a direction of thewheels 112 and 114 matches an alignment direction of the farm productareas 4500.

FIG. 46 illustrates an example of a situation in which a position of thefarm vehicle is moved when a driving mode is switched to an autonomousdriving mode according to an embodiment.

When an emergency situation occurs in the farm vehicle, the wheels 112and 114 of the vehicle may be positioned in the farm product areas 4500for several reasons, and the direction of the wheels may not match thedirection of the alignment direction of the farm product areas. Asdescribed above, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,when the emergency situation is resolved, the driving mode of thevehicle is changed to the autonomous driving mode even without anadditional control of the user, and thus, when the autonomous drivingmode is started in the case in which positions and direction of thewheels are not correct, as shown in FIG. 46 , the farm product may bedamaged.

Accordingly, according to an embodiment, when the emergency situation isresolved and the driving mode is changed to the autonomous driving mode,positions and direction of the wheels 112 and 114 of the farm vehicle100 may be obtained, and positions and alignment direction of the farmproduct areas 4500 present in a predetermined radius about the farmvehicle 100 may be obtained. At this point, the alignment direction ofthe wheels with respect to the alignment direction of the farm productareas may be measured by one or more sensors installed in the farmvehicle.

Further, when the positions of the wheels 112 and 114 are deviated fromthe positions of the farm product areas 4500, a wheel control commandfor moving the farm vehicle 100 may be generated so that the positionsof the wheels match the alignment direction of the farm product areas4500. The wheel control command may be a command to position the wheelsin the area in which the farm products are positioned and to make thedirection of the wheels match the alignment direction of the farmproduct areas as in the example illustrated in FIG. 45 .

Further, according to an embodiment, after the wheels are movedaccording to the control command for moving the wheels, the autonomousdriving of the farm vehicle is started and the work machine may bedriven in autonomous cultivation. As a result, as in FIG. 45 , byensuring that the wheel is not positioned on the farm product and thedirection of the wheels match the alignment direction of the farmproduct areas before starting the autonomous driving mode properly,damage to the farm products may be prevented.

FIG. 47 is a flowchart illustrating an autonomous driving method of thefarm vehicle according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 47 , when a driving mode of the farm vehicle is anautonomous driving mode, whether an emergency situation corresponding tothe farm vehicles occurs is determined for a first cycle (4710).

When the emergency situation occurs, the driving mode of the farmvehicle is changed to a manual driving mode (4720).

In the manual driving mode, it is determined whether the emergencysituation is resolved for a second cycle (4730).

When the emergency situation is resolved, the driving mode of the farmvehicle is changed to the autonomous driving mode (4740).

meanwhile, the method may be recorded as a program that may be executedon a computer, and may be implemented in a general-purpose digitalcomputer operating the program using a computer-readable recordingmedium. In addition, the structure of the data used in the methoddescribed above may be recorded on a computer-readable recording mediumthrough various means. Examples of the computer-readable recordingmedium include storage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM,floppy disks, hard disks, and the like), and optical read media (e.g.,CD-ROMs, DVDs, and the like).

The above description of the present specification is only exemplary,and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure and without changing essential features. Therefore,the embodiments should be understood to be exemplary and not limiting inevery aspect. For example, each component described as a single entitymay be distributed and implemented, and components described as beingdistributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present embodiment will be defined by the followingclaims rather than the above detailed description, and all changes andmodifications derived from the meaning and the scope of the claims andequivalents thereof should be understood as being included in the scopeof the present disclosure.

The method may be recorded as a program that may be executed on acomputer, and may be implemented in a general-purpose digital computeroperating the program using a computer-readable recording medium. Inaddition, the structure of the data used in the method described abovemay be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium through variousmeans. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium includestorage media such as magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks,hard disks, and the like), and optical read media (e.g., CD-ROMs, DVDs,and the like).

According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, anoperation of the slave vehicle configured to collect a bale can becontrolled even when there is no operator for the slave vehicle, so thattime and cost required to collect the bale can be reduced.

Further, even when there are a plurality of slave vehicles, a balecollection slave vehicle can be determined on the basis of a distance,so that it is possible to efficiently collect bales.

Further, even when there is no separate input, it is possible todetermine that there is a bale, which is required to be collected, bydetecting a bale generation completion signal through a camera.

Further, a more accurate bale collection can be made by providing shapeinformation of a bale to be collected by a bale collection slavevehicle.

Further, it is possible to collect a bale more accurately by determiningeven a pose of a bale collection slave vehicle when the bale collectionslave vehicle performs a collection operation.

According to the technical solution of the present disclosure,operations of slave vehicles can be controlled by a master vehicle toenable efficiently and planned group farming work.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, whena large amount of farming work is required, a work time can be shortenedwithout adding additional manpower.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure,during platooning, variation in a farming work speed between vehiclescan be prevented from occurring and farming work can be performedconsistently.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, whena path of a master vehicle is changed, a driving command for slavevehicles is automatically reset, so that farming work during platooningcan be performed consistently.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, evenwhen a path of a slave vehicle is changed, the consistency of workduring platooning can be maintained without affecting other vehicles.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, pathsof vehicles of a vehicle group, which are arranged in series, can beefficiently changed.

According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, farmproducts suitable for a predetermined farmland can be more accuratelyand effectively recommended on the basis of farmland evaluation dataobtained from a farm vehicle.

According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, a drivingmode of a farm vehicle can be automatically switched to an autonomousdriving mode even when there is no user's determination on theresolution of one emergency situation.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, it ispossible to change a driving mode to an autonomous driving mode evenwithout a user, and provide information indicating that an emergencysituation has been resolved and there is no need to board to the user.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, evenwhen a passenger, who boards on a farm vehicle, does not directly detectan emergency situation, the passenger can recognize that the emergencysituation has occurred and a driving mode of the vehicle is switched toa manual driving mode.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, thetypes of emergency situations can be classified. and determinationcriteria for each sensor can be specified, so that the emergencysituations can be efficiently responded to.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, it ispossible to check more frequently whether an emergency situation occurswhile an autonomous driving mode is performed.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure,through a security check, in addition to an emergency situationgenerated due to a problem of a farm vehicle itself or a problem of anexternal situation, it is possible to accurately determine whether anemergency situation caused by hacking is resolved.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, byperforming different security checks for each network connected tosensors in a vehicle, it is possible to determine whether an emergencysituation is resolved in a state in which the accuracy of the securitycheck is increased and security is verified.

According to another technical solution of the present disclosure, byensuring that wheels are not positioned on a farm product and adirection of the wheels match an alignment direction of farm productareas before starting an autonomous driving mode properly, damage to thefarm products can be prevented.

The above description of the present specification is only exemplary,and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure and without changing essential features. Therefore,the embodiments should be understood to be exemplary and not limiting inevery aspect. For example, each component described as a single entitymay be distributed and implemented, and components described as beingdistributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present embodiment will be defined by the followingclaims rather than the above detailed description, and all changes andmodifications derived from the meaning and the scope of the claims andequivalents thereof should be understood as being included in the scopeof the present disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A bale collecting method using a mastervehicle and one or more slave vehicles, the method comprising:establishing a communication connection with the one or more slavevehicles; obtaining a current position of each of the one or more slavevehicles which have the communication connection and determining twoslave vehicles which are closest to the master vehicle as balecollection slave vehicles; obtaining a bale generation completion signalof a baler provided to the master vehicle and determining a position ofa bale corresponding to the bale generation completion signal; anddetermining a moving position of the bale collection slave vehicles, inconsideration of a generation speed of a new bale after the balegeneration completion signal and the position of the bale; andtransmitting, to the bale collection slave vehicles, a bale collectioncommand including the moving position of the bale collection slavevehicles, wherein: the bale generation completion signal is a signalgenerated by detecting that the baler completes bale generation anddischarges the bale to an outlet, based on a result obtained byanalyzing an image signal received from a camera mounted on the mastervehicle; the bale collection command includes bale shape informationgenerated by the master vehicle, wherein the bale shape informationincludes information about a shape and a size of the bale and isobtained using the camera mounted on the master vehicle; in thedetermining of the bale collection slave vehicles, a distance betweenthe current position of each of the one or more slave vehicles and areference position of the master vehicle is calculated, and the twoslave vehicles closest to the master vehicle are determined as the balecollection slave vehicles based on the calculated distance; thecalculated distance is a distance between a point on a rear side of themaster vehicle including the baler and a point on a front side of eachof the one or more slave vehicles; and the moving position of the balecollection slave vehicles; is determined such that when one of two balecollection slave vehicles is collecting or loading bales, a remainingbale collection slave vehicle moves while maintaining a certain distancefrom the master vehicle moving while performing bale generation work. 2.A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recordedthereon a program for executing the method of claim 1 by a computer. 3.A master vehicle for farming, the master vehicle comprising: a workmachine for collecting and compressing hay to generate a bale; and aprocessor configured to establish a communication connection with one ormore slave vehicles, obtain a current position of each of the one ormore slave vehicles which have the communication connection, determinetwo slave vehicles closest to the master vehicle as bale collectionslave vehicles based on the obtained current position, obtain a balegeneration completion signal of a baler and determine a position of abale corresponding to the bale generation completion signal, determinethe position of the bale corresponding to bale generation completionsignal and determine a moving position of the bale collection slavevehicles based on a generation speed of a new bale after the balegeneration completion signal and the position of the bale, and transmita bale collection command including the moving position of the balecollection slave vehicles to the bale collection slave vehicles, whereinthe bale generation completion signal is a signal generated by detectingthat the work machine completes bale generation and discharges the baleto an outlet, based on a result obtained by analyzing an image signalreceived from a camera mounted on the master vehicle, the balecollection command includes bale shape information generated by themaster vehicle, wherein the bale shape information includes informationabout a shape and a size of the bale and is obtained using the cameramounted on the master vehicle, in determining the bale collection slavevehicles, the processor is configured to calculate a distance betweenthe current position of each the one or more slave vehicles and areference position the master vehicle, and determine the two slavevehicles closest to the master vehicle as the bale collection slavevehicles based on the calculated distance, the calculated distance is adistance between a point on a rear side the master vehicle including thebaler and a point on a front side of each of the one or more slavevehicles, and the moving position the bale collection slave vehicles isdetermined such that when one of two bale collection slave vehicles iscollecting or loading bales, a remaining bale collection slave vehiclemoves while maintaining a certain distance from the master vehiclemoving while performing bale generation work.